Kenjutsu - A Winter and Raven Story
by FeugoFox42
Summary: Both had tough upbringings. Both left those who loved them. Both made decisions they regret. Both live their lives by the blade. See how Winter Schnee and Raven Branwen come together to form an unlikely pair, and a strong bond between one another. Multi-chapter story. Winter/Raven centric. Rated T for Violence, Threat and Infrequent Swearing. SPOILERS for RWBY Volume 5.
1. Chapter 1

This takes place in an AU after the Volume 5 Finale. Anything that has taken place before that point has and did happen in this story's universe. Spoilers for RWBY Volume 1-5

 _Cover image sources: Raven = Deviantart - abesario25 ( **dot** ) deviantart ( **dot** ) com / art / Raven-Branwen-Minimalist-546461164  
Winter = Reddit - i ( **dot** ) redd ( **dot** ) it / reb3iopdlig01 ( **dot** ) png_

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 _Chapter Beta - **DioRezi**_

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[ **Kenjutsu** (剣術) is the umbrella term for all ( _koryū_ ) schools of Japanese swordsmanship … The word, which originated with the samurai class of feudal Japan, means " **the method, technique or the art of the sword.** "]

* * *

 _There are some things that were made to go together, as if the Gods themselves saw what marvels could be made with the combination and made it so. Cookies and Cream. Chocolate and Strawberries. Pineapple and Ham Pizza._

 _There are other combinations so vile, so repulsive, that the same Gods shunned it for being cruel to the land of the mortals below them, and let the humans and Faunus of Remnant discover the horror of these things themselves. Pink and green. Pineapple on anything but Ham Pizza. Anchovies with… basically everything._

 _But then there was **this**._

 _Putting Atlas Specialist Winter Schnee, eldest of her siblings, and Bandit Leader (and secret Spring Maiden) Raven Branwen, older twin to Qrow Branwen, in a single place at the same time, pitting them both against a single common foe._

 _This initially fell into the latter category of 'shunned by the Gods', but once they realised what happens when the pair are together, the Gods of Remnant cursed the very day that they let such a thing go unchecked. The world was not safe after Raven and Winter joined forces._

* * *

Relocating was never fun. All the time, effort and resources spent trying to make the best out of the one location that they were in, all for naught. After Cinder Fall and the rest of her cronies found out about where they were, she knew their time in that spot was limited.

Whether Haven fell or not, whether Cinder got what she wanted, no matter what the outcome, she would return to the Tribe and they would leave. They had been discovered, not only once by her daughter Yang, but twice in as many months. And that was greatly concerning to her.

So that's what they were doing - they were packing up and leaving at nightfall that night. But unlike the fearless leader that they were used to, the Bandits of the Branwen Tribe noticed that something was off about their leader when she returned.

"Are preparations nearly complete?" she asked initially, not even letting the person who was entering speak, slipping her mask on her face as she heard him approaching.

"Yes. With the rate we are progressing, all the main materials and equipment should be ready for transport before dusk tonight."

"…That is not why you came to me, is it?"

"I… no." The shapeshifter scoffed. In the presence of Ozpin back at Beacon and ever since then, she had always been the one to notice the details. She wouldn't always call them out immediately like she did just then, but sometimes she believed that it was better to keep the snippets of information to yourself and utilise them when the opportunity presented itself.

With a slow, purposeful turn and a very blunt question, "then why _are_ you here?", the recently promoted Bandit Captain faltered before finally finding the courage to answer her.

"Well… it's just… the rest of the Tribe have been noticing you being… a little down recently." There wasn't a physical or a verbal response from the Branwen, just simply the cold red and unblinking eyes of her mask staring at him.

"And why do you think that is?"

"Personally, I say it's because of the loss of Vernal." He couldn't see it, but there was definitely a twitch in her eye after he said that. "You came back different, and when she didn't we all knew."

Raven remained silent for a while. ' _If that is what they believe, then I might as well let them live with that lie._ ' Straightening herself up, she finally acknowledged the Captain. "Vernal was a trusted member of this Tribe, and someone who I had spent a great deal of time with. Yes, her death had hit me hard, so I am using this time to grieve as best I can. We _all_ should do that." She paused, finding a way to escape from the duties of leader, if only for an afternoon. "No one else would have gone down there. I will retrieve the body and return her back here. Once everything is packed up and ready, we can set up a pyre and cremate her as we raze this sight to the ground."

In reality, she didn't want that at all. She wanted to leave that place behind and never go back, but she guessed that if the rest of the Tribe were going to believe her story of grief, then she would have to follow through on that.

"Understood."

"You will be in charge whilst I am gone; I expect everything to be as close to ready as possible on my return." With that, the woman grabbed her Ōdachi and left via the rear exit of her current tent, one of the smaller and easier to disassemble ones from the camp so that her large one could be deconstructed sooner.

Many thoughts passed through her mind as she walked away from the Tribe to a place where she could portal herself away safely and without interruptions - it's not like a large number of people didn't know that she could do that, but rather the less people were around, the smaller the chance of someone following her.

First, her mind wandered to Yang. The stupid girl who wanted to dive head first into battle against an opponent who couldn't be stopped or reasoned with without a second thought.

She next thought about Vernal, and how eerie it was going to be to return to that Vault, it's eerie silence and mystical presence surrounding her. And also how cold she would feel portalling to a person that was no longer alive.

In a similar vein, her mind drifted to Summer - the first. When she discovered her semblance, Summer Rose was insistent that she be the first person that Raven formed a link with, being her team leader and all. She was amazed at how successful it was, as was Raven. The latter was less amazed when one evening she felt something break inside of her. She followed the link she always did for Summer, only to find a corpse, still lying on the ground with a furious Qrow Branwen slashing away at the Beowolves around her in a desperate attempt to release his fury of the situation.

Never had she seen her baby brother so angry before. Or since. Not even back at Beacon.

Her mind finally wandered to Taiyang. Her husband, although she never wore the ring to make it obvious that it was so. In that instant, she knew. Grabbing the handle and pulling out the sword, Raven slashed at the air with a near vertical strike, tearing everything open and leaving only a swirling black and red wound in the fabric of space. Shifting herself into corvid form, she flapped and fluttered her way through to the other side, the rift closing seconds after.

* * *

It'll be a cold day in the Underworld before Jacques Schnee ever welcomes back either of his daughters into his house with the pleasantries one would expect from someone's relation returning home after a long absence. Wanting him to welcome her back to Atlas with open arms and genuine gratitude, not schemes and plans for his own gain, was no longer a lingering hope in the back of her mind, or a dream she had in the night. It was asking for a miracle at this point.

And sure enough, her return back home went exactly as she expected it to.

As her private transport landed on the grounds of her home, there were already many members of staff rushing in to grab her belongings and transport them to wherever she was staying for the duration of her visit, because she was adamant this was only going to be a short stay.

Winter let her breath escape her, disappointment on her lips seeping into the sigh. Already her life had returned to the way it was back when she was so much younger. Servants running around after you, cooks preparing you meals every day on the hour, maids cleaning up after her whenever she made a mess, it frustrated her no end. It was one of the reasons she left this place to join the Atlas Military Programme, particularly aiming for the rank of Specialist.

In the Military, there was no being doted after, there were no servants to do anything for you, it was you and you alone, and if you couldn't stomach it you would not survive. Her first few weeks, closing in on a month, of training were grueling for her. She pushed hard, but it was never enough for her Drill Sergeant, so she was pushed harder. She dedicated time outside of their regular routine to training herself, and to keep practicing her summoning that she had read up on in one of the few possessions she brought with her, her Grandfather's diary.

And one day, things just fell into place with her. Training courses that would have been painful to even attempt at the start were flown through like a breeze now. She was no pushover in hand-to-hand and close quarters combat when joining, but she lost regularly against those who were much larger and tougher than her. Now, she could wipe the floor with everyone bar one - her commanding officer, then-Colonel Ironwood. By the end of it all, she was passing with flying colors and even got into the Specialist Programme with personal recommendation from Ironwood, who was promoted to General earlier that same parade.

That was the life she loved; free from being looked after, but not without order.

Here, it completely about order, with none of the benefits.

Waiting just inside the front doors to the Schnee Mansion was Jacques, standing straight in his crisp white suit, hair dyed perfectly to match the name he married into, and Whitley, still as smug as ever.

The patriarch of the house greeted her with a disapproving stare and a sharp, cold call of her name. "Winter."

' _Oh, how I have not missed this._ ' She smiled as best as she'd dare, wishing to be cordial at present but resenting every second of it. "So nice to see you again father. Brother."

"Why hello dear sister." The Specialist tried her best to not let either of the men see her squirm at how Whitley greeted her. She always hated it. When she and Weiss greeted each other with "sister" or "dear sister", there was always love behind it, even if it seemed shallow to outsiders to call the other that. With their youngest sibling, it was patronising every single time, and he knew it. "A pleasure to see you once more back home. Have you returned to beg for father's forgiveness, hm?"

"Like I would do that," she replied, unfazed by the presence of the man they were both speaking about. "No, I have returned on the request of General Ironwood. He instructed all members of the Military to return to Atlas at once, and so I have. Whilst I was in Atlas, I thought I would check up on you all, and perhaps stay here for a few nights."

"And what makes you think I would let you do such a thing?" her father asked, raising an eyebrow and standing with his arms now down by his side, hands balled into loose fists.

"Because if you didn't want me here, you would have sent someone to tell me so on the landing strip and turned me away immediately." There was no mistaking the twitch in the SDC President's eyes at that remark. She knew she'd hit the nail on the head, and he knew that too. With a huff, he spun on his heel and started walking away.

"You'll be staying in your old room," he mentioned, barely audible over the clicking of his shoes on the marble floor. Whitley looked at his sister, unsurprised by the way she was acting, before strolling off after his father.

Winter simply looked smug. She still had the touch that Weiss lacked for so long, that ability to get under their father's skin. With a grin, she made her way up the first flight of stairs, uncrossing her arms from behind her back.

Once a walk she enjoyed, making her way through her old family home was doing nothing but bringing back bad memories. A life of being spoon-fed and molded into becoming someone, becoming something, that fairly early on she chose not to be. It wasn't for her, and opting out was received… poorly.

"Miss Schnee?" came a familiar voice from behind her after rounding a corner. Spinning to face them, her stoic expression softened considerably.

"Hello again Klein. It has been a while."

"Indeed it has," the well groomed butler agreed, "far too long for my taste. It truly is nice to see you once again."

"Quite. Speaking of, I noticed Weiss was not with everyone else to greet me, can you take me to her?" The thick eyebrows of the butler raised and he glanced around him to check for any other staff or family members. But, being in a house like this with such magnitude, running into someone else was nigh impossible if you knew what you were doing. He shook his head and shushed her, earning a look of surprise from the eldest Schnee child, but she remained silent on his request.

"All in due time," he whispered. "Play along and I will explain later." He spoke much louder afterwards, pretending as if his previous words did not happen on the off chance someone was listening on them. "Of course, Miss Schnee. Follow me." Not knowing what was happening, but still appreciating the need for secrecy, Winter followed after him.

* * *

Patch was far sunnier than where the Tribe was camped at present (for the next few hours). It was helped by the fact that the time difference between the two places meant that the island was about two hours ahead from the current campsite, but also because where it was situated it always seemed to be brighter anyway.

Another factor was the subdued blond hair of the man tending to the row of Sunflowers in the garden as she warped in. "The Elder Sun Dragon" himself. He heard the portal behind him, as he turned to look in the general direction of the sound. She even heard a sigh come from him.

It was to be expected, considering how infrequently she had made herself known to him in the past sixteen years.

As she perched her avian form on a mid-hanging branch near Tai, the cargo shorts sporting man made his way towards her.

"Not when they both nearly died, not when they were off to Signal or Beacon, not even when your own flesh and blood was sat cooped up in here for months on end in a depression so deep and drastic, I honestly thought that I'd lost her to it. Not even then, but now. Now, of all times." The bird cawed as an answer. "I don't even know what to say to you anymore."

It cawed once again, then swooped down behind a tree. Bird entered cover, and the raven haired woman left it.

"I _was_ there," she corrected, removing her mask and staring at the man who wed her, and gave her Yang. "I was circling around them to make sure they were safe."

"Then why didn't you make yourself known? Yang was out there looking for _you,_ and you just left her to trudge along all alone searching for her mother, when all she needed to do was look up?"

"If I wasn't there, who would have created the portal for Qrow to jump through and save them from Grimm?"

"… He never mentioned that to me-"

"Because I made him swear not to." Blue eyes stared into red, the calmer color feeling a rage more associated with the latter color. But soon enough the calming color took over the unfamiliar emotion as Tai spotted the first tear falling from his ex's eyes.

"Rae?" To his knowledge, Raven had cried thrice in front of him. The first time was when the rest of the team were all crying around her at the sight of the newborn Yang, and she felt it was appropriate to let tears fall.

That one, she knew about.

The second was when Summer died, and she most certainly did not know about this one.

A few weeks after Summer had been buried up on the cliffside, a raging storm came from nowhere and bombarded Patch with rain, thunder and lightning, likes of which the residents had never experienced before. Tai, worried that the last reminder of his wife - her grave - was destroyed and the memory of her gone forever, donned a thick windproof coat and braved the storm. Reaching the clearing just before her grave, the storm worsened. And kneeling by the slate was Raven.

He wanted to go and comfort her, to try and bring her home and start again, but not only was the fact that his normally stoic ex-Wife was screaming in anguish and wailing like there was no other emotion on Remnant, _she_ seemed to be the one controlling the storm.

It wasn't until a few moments later when Tai had a little more time to process did he piece together how that had come to be. He left the clearing, safe in the knowledge that no harm was coming to the monument.

And the third time was now. Whilst he didn't really have many moments to compare against, these tears didn't seem like ones of a distraught woman like last time, or a woman filled with joy like the time before. These tears appeared to be tears of sadness and, dare he say, regret.

"I couldn't sit by and let her die, Tai. And I told myself that I would only save her once. I didn't want to waste that on this, something where she physically couldn't have done anything about it. So I portalled Qrow in."

"But-"

"I was there when they left for Signal, and Beacon. I was sat outside Yang's window when she was in there for months. I was there when Cinder Fall, the woman who was the Fall Maiden after forcefully taking it away from Amber, died. And after that, Yang confronted _me_."

The man, caught in his ex's words, couldn't help but chuckle slightly. "So she went after you."

"…Yes. She found the Tribe, and I explained. Not everything, but enough to let her make her own choice." The Bandit leader folded her arms, closing herself off as a last ditch effort to not show how vulnerable she currently was. "She chose to confront me, and she made me realise just how… grown up she's become."

"You should have been here for that Raven, not halfway across the world. And I don't mean fleetingly either, I mean full time."

"Not anymore I can't," she replied in a guilty whisper.

"…When did she die?" The question threw the woman off, and she made sure Tai knew from her look of confusion. "The last Maiden. When did she die?" Still nothing. He sighed, might as well tell her now. "Six weeks after Summer was buried, you went to her grave. I saw you crying like I've never seen you cry before, and the weather was reflective of your mood. No restraints, nothing held back, just rage and sadness. I guessed, as there was no one else around, that means you're one of The Four. But unless you had been all your life and it was just _another_ thing you kept from me," Raven's expression hardened at that jab, but the tattooed blond continued, "it must have happened in between you leaving and then. So, I'll rephrase instead of playing the pronoun game… when did you become a Maiden?"

"It was a couple of months before Summer died. The previous Maiden found her way to the camp a day or so before I left, and I tried _so hard_ to help her." Tai scoffed, Raven was only a team player when it benefitted her. "But she was weak and scared. It was mercy what I did, and I burdened myself with the responsibility of a Maiden. I couldn't… didn't stay here because that put everyone at risk. I told Yang about Salem, and she managed to see right through me down the line. I… honestly wish I was here to see it all happen."

Acting on impulse the second he saw her shoulders shake, Tai closed the gap and wrapped Raven in an embrace, letting her cry into his shoulder. He knew she wouldn't come home, but at the very least he could make her feel safer, if only for a moment.

* * *

Klein knocked on the door. "Miss Schnee, may I enter?" He knew there would be no reply, so he waited the appropriate amount of time for "Weiss' reply" before answering to the nothingness. "Thank you." With a turn of the key, he made his way into the room, void of any occupant and had been for the past month and a bit.

"Why have you brought me to Weiss' room?"

"Please, Miss Winter, would you mind shutting the door behind you?" She did as asked, then sat in the chair that the butler had pulled out for her as an unspoken request. Seating himself in his own chair, he began to explain. "I wish to tell you all of this under complete secrecy. Your sister wanted me to do so."

"I understand. Now, why are we here in this room when it does not appear to have been lived in for a while?"

"You see, Miss Winter, Miss Weiss did not like it here."

' _That much I can agree with her on,_ ' she thought to herself.

"And hearing about where you were, stationed in Mistral and all, she wished to escape and meet up with you as the only member of the family that she really cared about now…" His eyes turned fuchsia and his face started glowing with a pink hue as a blush grew on him. "…Except me. She said she had me too," he admitted in a now nasally voice, indicating one of his many personality shifts.

"My sister did always have a soft spot for you Klein, and you for her. I can see why she said what she did."

"Thank you Miss Winter." He smiled, and she smiled back. It was always nice to have a friendly face in the household. "I do not know how she did in her travels, but considering you have just returned with no knowledge of her ideas, I would guess that your paths did not cross."

"You would be correct in thinking that." The man held his head in his hands, beating himself up that he did all he could, yet it still wasn't enough to ensure her safety. "Klein, whatever happened to my sister, you had no say in whether she would make it there safely. I'm sure you did everything you could, and that is all that matters."

He smiled once more. "A sentiment most appreciated, Miss Winter. I did try and provide her with what I managed to unearth - your latest stationing post being the biggest thing - along with some essentials for the road. I hope she made good use of them, it would be a dreadful shame for me to go through all that effort just for it to go to waste."

"Weiss is not like our brother, Klein. You might as well have been family in her eyes, particularly with my absence."

"Do not put yourself down, Miss Winter. Weiss looked, and still does look, up to you greatly."

"I know," she admitted, followed by a small sigh, "but I can't help but feel like I should have been there for her, even when all this was getting out of hand between her and our father." There was a pregnant pause wherein Winter collected her thoughts, imagining what their lives would have been like if she had stayed. She and her sister may have been closer than they were now. But equally, if she had stayed and become the President of the SDC, they may have been even further apart due to her role and position. Snapping herself out of her thoughts of 'could have been', she returned her attention to the man sitting opposite her. "Now, I shouldn't keep you away from your duties for too long; father would surely notice."

"Quite," he said normally. But when he blinked, his eyes turned red, "I wouldn't mind staying hidden away though, he barely notices me anyway."

"Well, then he's missing out learning a few things from the one person who would be capable of showing him how to be a fantastic father figure." Once again, Klein's eyes swapped to fuchsia and a heavy blush graced his features.

"You and your sister spoil me with compliments."

The Specialist stood from her seat, prompting the butler to follow suit. "Some of us need to Klein, or had you forgotten that the males of this household only like praise when it's directed to them."

Klein couldn't help but laugh. "I see that freedom from this house has sharpened your tongue."

"I have no shame in saying that it has."

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 _Chapter Beta - **DioRezi**_

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Welcome one and all to my new project - **Kenjutsu: A Winter and Raven Story** (" **Kenjutsu** " for short)

This story idea sprang forth from a conversation I'd had with **DioRezi** on one of the chapters of **Senseless** , my current 'main story', regarding whether Winter and/or Raven would make an appearance in the story. I was honest, and told him maybe.

But it got me thinking, and so I threw this little thing together. He seemed to like it, so we're publishing it for y'all to see!

The upload schedule for this one will most likely be a bit sporadic, as a lot more time and effort is going into this story than any other one I've done to make sure characters stay as true to canon as possible and just so that it feels right as a whole. And to have **DioRezi** being Beta Reader from the get-go is going to have some major benefits. But one "drawback", if you call it that (I don't), will be **potentially** a longer distance between each uploaded chapter.

As always, feedback - good or bad - is most appreciated

 **-EDIT: 1/07/2018-  
Because of RWBY Chibi's return yesterday (eeeeeeeeeee!), I've edited part of the story with Klein in to reflect the Chibi canon of his Bashful persona's eyes from my guess of teal (which turns out to be Dopey, so I was half right) to fuchsia  
**

And now, a word from **DioRezi**

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Hey buddy! Crazy to finally see this posted after all of our work on it. I hope we'll see many follow, fav, and review this story.

Readers: We are just two people so we need your advice, ideas, suggestions, and theories. Don't be surprised if you see poll questions or we need your help for decisions or timelines. Everything is appreciated. Hate and praise are more fuel for the fire. Ideas are sticks, giving it substance to last longer and be stronger.

 **PS: If he relies only on my thoughts and advice this will turn into a surreal dream where plot isn't even a concept. This is VERY uncharted territory. We must not trek alone. Come with us and help us map this out for the writers and readers to come.**

You're still reading this? Wow, I'm glad you made it this far! I (DioRezi) am open to any pm (private messages) about this story, however I'd like to keep reviews in here. You and I can talk about it personally almost any day. I will never give any spoilers, but you might be able to help me or Fox and might get a shoutout...

 _Here's looking at you kid. I hope you enjoyed our story so far. We'll talk soon, hopefully sooner than we think.  
DioRezi was here_


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter Beta - **DioRezi**_

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"Thank you for joining me on such short notice, Schnee."

"It was no trouble, General. Honestly, I only wanted to return home to check up on my sister."

"Ah, Young Weiss. How is she doing?"

"She was indisposed," she lied, "I haven't had a chance to speak to her."

"I thought that was the case, considering we had a report not two days ago from Haven Academy of four groups in fighting on the school grounds. One witness has even gone on record to say that they saw students fighting, including a 'fair haired girl who looked a lot like a Schnee'."

"I… I apologize for misleading you about her wellbeing, General, although I do still stand by the fact that it was her I returned home for."

The high ranking General sighed. "Whilst I normally dislike my men blatantly lying to me, I knew exactly where she was and what she was doing, whereas you were unaware of her status, and so I am willing to be slightly lenient."

"Thank you, sir."

"But why lie?" he inquired. "Why not say that she wasn't there?"

"…It's a ridiculous reason sir, no need to fret over it."

"And yet here I am." The Specialist gave in; that's why _he_ was the General, not her.

"I didn't want you worrying about her safety as I had been." With another sigh, the General lay a hand on her shoulder.

"Winter, you and Weiss are incredibly strong individuals, both of the mind and of the body. In following your ambitions as either a Huntress or a Soldier, you have shown that you already possess more of a positive drive than your Father. And you've proven to be a much more entertaining sight than him too. Your little demonstrations, while destructive at times, are always a good laugh for me, at least."

"I have no idea what you're talking about sir, I do no such things."

He chuckled. "A sense of humour on both of you as well, more than Jacques ever had, and probably ever will." Ironwood moved around the table once more, looking out to the azure horizon of the day. "My guess would be that she would have wanted to tell you this story herself, but during the time she was still at home, Weiss managed to summon a Boarbatusk to her aid in the middle of a gala and made it charge at one of the patrons attending."

"Weiss _summoned_?" she checked, a prideful smile growing without restraint.

"She did. Effortlessly too. My guess is that this wasn't her first either, considering what you mentioned your first summoning experience was like."

"Well, I'm glad she managed to do that. I will congratulate her myself when I next see her."

"Right, there was a reason I asked you here." The high ranking military man sat back at his desk, grabbed a file from the top of his pile and handed it to the Specialist as he began briefing. He prefaced it with a quick comment of "the reports I mentioned earlier are in there too." She took note, then waited for her mission.

"As I said, there was a battle at Haven Academy last week, on the night of the full moon no less, with what seemed at the start to be four seemingly separate groups battling. The battle actually ended up being two sides on two fronts; your sister and her friends battling with armed Faunus, seemingly just the civilians, from Menagerie against the same group of individuals we believe to be those responsible for the Fall of Beacon: The Black Queen Group, as they have been dubbed thanks to that stunt at the Vytal Festival, and the White Fang.

"Now, there are reports going around that Sienna Khan, High-Leader of the White Fang was murdered by a Huntsman, specifically a human one. Whilst there is no solid evidence for or against that claim, what is true is that Adam Taurus is now High-Leader after taking her place. Atlas' borders have shut, no one gets in or out without my permission. And you are going to be the one exception to the 'going out' part of that."

Having been following through in the file with what General Ironwood was saying, Winter looked back up to the man. "The mission, sir?"

"Capture Adam Taurus, and bring him back _alive_." She didn't need to hear any more than that, but the General felt the need to justify. "Having been in talks with Sienna herself, I know she was not the type of person to give up power. So, we can assume that her death was deliberate, and our most likely candidate is Adam. He was a person of power back in the Vale branch of the White Fang, so why he would have been in Mistral remains a mystery until you start putting two and two together."

"Of course. It appears like it's the only logical explanation."

"There is no solid evidence, only guesses and assumptions," he reminded her. "Without Adam, they are without a leader, and that could aid in our capture of more people in power around the organization. Making a martyr of him won't do us as a people any favours, so we need someone who can match him and eventually better him in combat to bring him in alive."

"I am honoured that you think me suitable for the job at hand, sir." The secret cyborg chuckled briefly.

"Winter, you know you're probably the _only_ one suitable for the job. The rest of the specialists don't have the skill you do." She could only remain straight faced for so long; the tiniest of smug smirks graced her face.

"I won't disappoint you sir."

"You never do."

* * *

An afternoon of release was well needed for the ravenette. Nothing sexual, nothing intimate, just Taiyang and her in the cabin Team STRQ built themselves on Patch, essentially catching up, though not as friendly as that. It was much more of Tai telling Raven what Yang, and to a lesser extent Ruby, had done in the times when she wasn't staring at them as a bird through the window.

Raven made it painfully clear that she wouldn't be staying, a remark Tai countered with the fact that she was almost treating this like her own personal therapy session. For once, the woman answered back with a joke, saying that it would take more than one therapy session to fix her.

 _That_ was the Raven Tai fell in love with; the one who would make small jokes from time to time, even at her own expense on rare occasions, the one who laughed and loved and, despite not willing to openly admit it, cared. The one who, even after openly confessing to himself and Summer that she and Qrow were only at Beacon to learn how to kill Huntsmen, seemed like she had a change of heart.

But Tai relented, agreeing that just reappearing back into his and the kids' lives wouldn't exactly be the best. Especially when she mentioned that they now all knew of and about Salem, and that Yang made her realize how much the world wasn't the same as when she left for the Tribe and the former Spring Maiden.

"She called my bluff Tai," she admitted as she finished her tea, "our daughter stood there with tears in her eyes and, without anything hindering her, told me what I didn't even want to admit I knew of myself; I _am_ afraid of Salem."

"Having never seen her myself, but from what I heard, that's justifiable."

"But Yang's afraid too, and yet she, and all the others, are taking one of the Relics. Her reasoning was that I already have a target on my back. She might as well make it harder for that witch to find the Relic by making it a moving target."

"I'm not sure I approve of her ideas knowing that it might get her killed, but I've got to give her props for being that gutsy."

"She is our daughter," the bandit leader admitted. The blonde nodded to that. "I must be off Tai, I promised that I'd retrieve the body of Vernal and return it to camp so she could be cremated as we move on."

"It's nice to see you caring again," he mentioned, a twinge of sadness in his voice. She shook her head at him.

"I never stopped caring. This wasn't meant to be like this, but the Spring Maiden just showed up at our old camping grounds and they needed someone to train her. When I ended up killing her out of mercy, I sealed my fate."

"You couldn't return," Tai continued on from her, "because doing so would make things easier for Salem to pinpoint you. So you kept moving, constantly changing locations to throw her off, never staying in one place for too long."

"Exactly."

"I wish it could have been different," he confessed.

"Part of me thinks the same." Raven stood from her seat and started heading to the front door, but her ex called for her once more from his seat.

"Why did you come here? Don't get me wrong, it was an unexpected arrival from you, but not unpleasant."

"…If the Tribe and I are moving, then we can use this time to mourn and release everything emotionally, then we can leave all of that at the old site and start again at the new place. But I needed to do things on my own. As the leader of the Tribe, I need to stay strong for them and take time for myself out of their sights. Seeing me weak makes them weak, and that loses morale and cohesion, which makes everything sloppy." With a fond smile, she turned to face him again. "Remember when Summer got angry at us all right before that mission to Vale's Southern border?"

Taiyang chuckled. "We were so unsynchronized that day, she was shedding petals everywhere in frustration. I'm pretty sure one of us almost died."

"Where do you think your scar came from?" she teased. Absentmindedly, he rubbed his lower right side, over the raised tissue on his body at the scar from an Ursa Major that somehow managed to sneak up on Team STRQ after their mission was over and they were all low on energy and Aura. "I have to go now," she sighed, "I have been away for too long." He nodded in understanding, then lowered his head as his way of accepting this as a goodbye. "I will be around," she offered, "just look up." With that, she shifted and flew out the door, portalling herself back to Vernal in the Vault.

Coming through the rift to see a dead body was never nice even after being desensitized to it all from years of killing. But when the body was one of the people you were close to, it made the situation so much worse. The tan skin of the woman she once knew was now far less appealing in colour, being a murky grey/brown mix as all of her blood stopped circulating eventually. She still looked peaceful, even with the pool of now dried blood underneath her, after it all.

The bandit leader let another tear fall for her lost comrade, but only the one. She couldn't be seen being weak in front of the rest, it would make things much more difficult for her to reign in the Tribe if they saw weakness in her. Calming herself down and fighting her expression back to neutral, she gathered the Decoy Maiden's weapons and her body, lifting her up to carry her through the portal she had made for her return.

"Raven, you're back!" came the first cry from a bandit as she left her crimson rift in space. "You'd been gone for so long, we weren't sure what had happened to you." His hand was freshly bandaged up from a cut, most likely coming from a piece of something as they were packing away the camp.

"There was still a couple of pockets of resistance on the surface that I had to deal with before getting to Vernal," she lied, "and even then, getting into the Vault was difficult because I had to find the key on Leo Lionheart's person." No one else knew that the Headmaster of the academy had perished by means of Seer, so his pierced and impaled body still lay on the floor of his office.

"But all is well?"

"Yes. Have you made progress?"

"We have indeed, all bar three tents have been dismantled and packed away, and the supplies have been rounded up. We should be done within the next hour or two."

"Good." She handed the body of Vernal off to him, the physical weight not affecting her much considering she was using her Aura to supplement her muscles, but the emotional weight of carrying a fallen friend was. "Make sure that her pyre is in the middle of the grounds, get men to put it together while the rest clear up. We light the fire as the sun passes the treeline and leave soon after at sundown." The man nodded, taking the body away from her to delegate to someone else. Raven glanced down, seeing faint splotches of red on her otherwise black gloves. Those faint traces of wet blood from the bandit's wound now stained the now deceased woman's body again.

Seeing that reminded her of something, and her fists clenched in frustration. Tai mentioned to her earlier that day about Yang's nightmares soon after she woke from her coma. Tai said that she was always replaying the moments from the Fall where she was incapable of doing anything against the person who eventually took her arm. Raven knew of this person's existence before but paid them no mind; they weren't affecting her just as she wasn't with them. But now, having learned that the same person was responsible for Yang's lost arm, she was overcome with a feeling she hadn't felt for a very long time, revenge. It was too strong to ignore, even overtaking her need to keep her tribe safe, and she gave in and began plotting for it to be enacted.

Her Maiden powers blossomed in her eyes, the crimson fire burning as she stared off into the distance. She would make Adam Taurus pay for what he did.

* * *

Acting alone rarely made Winter nervous. Even now, it wasn't the fact that she was doing this mission solo that was sending her nerves into overdrive, it was the idea of taking on what could possibly be the entirety of the Haven group of the White Fang by herself.

…Okay, so her being alone played a _small_ factor in her nerves running amok in her system.

In her defence, it wouldn't exactly be considered a wise battle strategy to send a _Schnee,_ a name synonymous with batting heads against the Faunus for many years, to face off against the White Fang. Not only do you risk providing them with more of a reason to attack you with increased ferocity than they normally would because you - or in this case, your father - had caused unspeakable atrocities to their kin, but you are also offering yourself up on a silver platter to them should you lose.

Winter dared to think about it, for the head of a Schnee would be worth a very high price for the terrorist group, whether it was attached to the body or not. The Specialist shuddered, that wasn't the image she wanted to be imagining as she entered enemy territory. In the three days of preparation she was given, she had formulated an airtight plan on how she planned in getting in, getting Adam Taurus subdued and getting him out in… no more than three pieces, that was the target. She was told he needed to be alive, there was still room for slight losses of limb.

And part of the formula of it being airtight was the fact that she was going in alone - the only one to blame about it going wrong was herself.

Her in-ear communicator rang, and she clicked the button on it to answer.

* _Good to see you're en route, Specialist. ETA?_ *

She glanced out of the unmanned plane's cockpit. "40 seconds horizontally, about 30 seconds of flat falling without a chute."

* _I need you to go for a low chute, Schnee. The less time they get to attack you when you're vulnerable in the air, the better._ *

"Understood sir."

* _Coms will be monitored, abort mission on my command without question._ *

"Yes sir." After one last * _Good luck_ *, the line went to nothing but static. Bracing herself, she opened the bay doors and stepped near the edge, teetering on the line between a metal foothold and the sky, void of anything but clouds, below. With an exhalation, the Specialist leaned back, and fell.

The dusk setting as Winter plummeted to the ground from 15,000 feet made her speedy descent all the more majestic. Her outfit, her usual attire of predominantly Atlas White with blue and grey/silver accents and a splash of red around her neck, shone as she let gravity take its toll on her. With her approach, the automated private Bullhead was coming in from the West. This, providing that the trajectory was perfect, meant that she had the sun as a natural cover. It also meant that no one would be able to see her leaving the vehicle for her descent.

One thing she didn't have for her fall though, was a parachute. But that was made up for by her semblance, the woman summoning glyphs to slow her fall significantly. She could only use them sparingly, as she was very aware of the large noise they make when being used and while dissipating, and unfortunately for her she was dropping in on an area that comprised entirely of Faunus. The likelihood of at least one of the guards having an animal trait that improved their hearing was very high.

It was a risk she planned for, and one that she was taking regardless of anyone else's opinion - this was _her_ mission after all.

The wind rushing past her and the finer details of the ground become ever clearer, Winter threw out the first of a few Glyphs in front of her to slow herself down. She opted to slow herself down as much as she could rather than trying to bring herself to a complete stop, as she was aware her Aura could cushion the fall at much slower speeds with minimal effort expended. A few Glyphs and 800 feet later, Winter weaved through the final branches in the canopy and landed with a grunt of exertion on the forest floor, doing her best to keep her noise levels down.

"General, I am on the ground."

* _Very good. Report back only when necessary._ *

"I understand sir." She let the line go out before making her way forward.

The White Fang base was not easily spotted. The area was swamped in a forest, with very few clearings around, in part because of the hilliness of the area. There was very little of note here except a patch of space with felled trees just outside of the cave entrance halfway up the hill. But as far as she could see, the hillside on the outskirts of Mistral was void of villagers or farmers of any kind. Considering the lusciousness of the forest around them and the trees that had been chopped down by the entrance, it was indeed odd. But it was only when you glanced past that slightly and took a closer look deeper in the cave, and then you'd see the large door leading inside to their base of operations.

The Specialist eased her way closer as silently as she could, not easy with leaves and sticks underfoot prone to snapping and making noise. The occasional guard would pass further down the hills, and she did her best to either silence them or move past without alerting them; mostly the latter option, but the former wasn't unused in her approach.

One particular guard she came across managed to spot her, not that difficult of a task with her wearing such a bright outfit against a forest of green. He was a burly fellow, it looked like he would charge her before he attempted a thought. He just so happened to shift his gaze her way and, on spotting her in the undergrowth, thought he could take her down, so with a swing of his hammer he went straight for Winter with a cry.

Not what she needed right now, trying to keep a low profile.

The Specialist dodged his first attack by jumping up and away from the hammer crashing down into the ground where she was mere moments before, leaving a large crater in the floor. Winter did her best to assess the situation fast; hammers weren't like blades, so her approach needed to be tailored for that _and_ the fact she wanted to be silent in her approach on the base.

Well, far quieter than this.

Grabbing a hold of one vial hidden in her pocket, she hid it in her hand as she continued dodging swing after powerful - yet slow - swing. Her patience was rewarded, as he took a large horizontal at her. Seizing the chance, she ducked below it and threw the vial with pinpoint accuracy, the Ice Dust freezing the Faunus' hammer to the tree trunk he'd crashed it into.

That was half the problem dealt with. Now for the bigger, dumber half of the problem.

The Faunus still tried to remove the weapon from the tree, even with the growing Ice forming all over it. In focusing on that, he neglected to notice Winter's approach, the Specialist landing a couple of strong hits to the back and a kick to the back of his leg, bringing him down to the ground. He spun to try and smack her away to grab his weapon back, but Winter simply parried his strike away with her arm, then followed up with a strong strike to the White Fang member's jaw, dazing him and sending his head flying back into the tree trunk which, combined with Winter's strike, knocked him out cold.

The fight led Winter up towards the cave, something she was most thankful for. She knelt in an open patch of land in what appeared to be some sort of unmarked gravesite. She took the time to survey the entrance and see the best route she could take to slip through their defences and get to Adam without any alarms being raised - Gods know there'll be a fuss when she got there. And who knows whether there were escape routes she was unaware of that would let Adam get away. But her mind kept shifting from her mission and she kept looking back to the graves around her.

' _Why did I manage to find the creepiest place in this forest to end my scout?_ ' she thought to herself, glancing at the graves surrounding her. Her eyes always seemed to land on one particular grave, as if she was being watched. A cold shiver ran down her spine when she looked at it again.

Seeing all this death around her made her realize something. From what she could see, there was at least seven different gravestones in the row she was standing in, and easily ten rows. She didn't know specifics on when they died, but that's still at least 70 dead White Fang members. As fantastic as her training was, she was only human.

"General," she called in, pressing the button in-ear to communicate.

* _What's the matter Schnee? Has something happened, or are you done already?_ *

"No sir. But I was wondering if… you had my Holo-Will on standby."

* _Winter, what's brought this on?_ * he asked, dropping the higher-ranking Officer voice for a moment and slipping almost into a paternal voice - in her eyes, he might as well have been. * _If you don't think you can do this, I can have the ship turn around and pick you up at a moment's notice. There's no shame in that._ *

"Do you have it?" she snapped. Realizing what she just did and who she just did it to, she corrected herself before any reprimanding came to be. "...sir." With a sigh, the General confirmed that he did indeed have it. "Is it still going to be sent to my sister?"

* _It is, but with the CCT down it may take a bit longer to reach her, or the device itself may need to be sent._ * There was a pregnant pause between them both, and the silence seemed to go on forever before the General spoke up once more. * _Winter, are you sure you can do this alone? It may have been a mistake to send-_ *

"No sir, it's fine. I was merely wanting to know the position and status of my Holo-Will; it's been so long since I last asked."

Her voice betrayed how she was truly feeling; she was scared and frightened about not coming out of this mission alive. Ironwood knew that she never asked of her Holo-Will before, only to check what it was when she first started going on missions. Knowing he could do no more, he cut comms with her and let her get back to making a move on the base.

' _That was foolish..._ ' she thought to herself, letting her fear take over for even just that moment put her at risk, and she couldn't have that at a time like this with such a high-profile target to capture.

Her thoughts were brought to a grinding halt as a new sound filled the air. Her body spun and her saber was out immediately, tip pointing towards the intruding presence. Winter was expecting a person, not a swirling mass of black and red.

"Well well well," a voice said through the portal, "this is certainly an interesting twist." As Raven Branwen stepped out to introduce herself properly, Winter's eyes widened in surprise and she took a step backwards.

* * *

The pyre was magnificent, if she did say so herself. It was an incredible advantage having Maiden powers and the rest of the tribe knowing so, because it meant all the heavy lifting could be done with magic and without the need for secrecy.

Once Vernal's body had been set upon the logs, her arms crossed and her expression peacefully neutral, Raven began speaking to the tribe, the sun kissed leaves of the treetops gracing the backdrop of the scene.

"We mark the passing of Vernal with this pyre. As we lay her to rest and let her body burn, we can mourn our loss. But afterwards, we grab our things and we leave this site, and we leave our feelings here too. We are Bandits, and acting on our feelings doesn't make us stronger, only weaker. But we are not heartless. So I grant you this chance to let your feelings out." She waved her hand towards the pile of sticks and logs that Vernal was tied to, and a lightning bolt crashed into the side of it, catching one of the drier pieces of wood on fire and beginning their pyre. "We have until the flames die down or the sky starts turning to night. Once it comes, we take our leave. Nothing is to remain here."

As the golden glow of the fire burnt, a few fellow bandits added some of the smaller unusable logs from around the perimeter to the pile to keep the flames going a little bit longer, but eventually the sky shifted from a glorious orange to a peaceful, unobstructed violet dotted with stars. The Tribe gathered their belongings and headed East; Raven had used the time they were clearing the old site to scour the continent and search for another settlement area relatively close by, and she found one about five miles Northeast of their current location.

"Lead our men East for 3 miles," she ordered the bandit Captain, "then Northeast after that once you've crossed the river. By a lake, you will find a large tree standing on its own in the middle of an open field much like this. Fell that tree first, and we shall make that the site of our new camp."

"What will you be doing?" he inquired.

"I need to ensure this place is truly razed to avoid anyone potentially finding us again. Then after that, I have some planning to do. I will be at the new site when you arrive. You will know when you have reached it." He nodded with a small grin on his face; knowing he was one of the few people Raven trusted completely was quite an honour, especially with a reputation like hers.

Okay, tell a lie, it wasn't _complete_ trust, but no one ever earned Raven's complete trust. It was very high levels of trust, as best. But that was a lot more than most got.

As the final bandit made their way past the clearing and into the trees beyond, Raven slipped on her mask and got to work. She donned a bit of tarp as a makeshift cloak, aiming to further conceal her identity; if anyone just so happened to make their way past the area as she performed her magic, anyone who knew of the Branwen Tribe would instantly recognize the Grimm Mask of their Leader, and those who also were aware of the Maidens' story could potentially start the speculation that one had become real. To top it all off, if the same group of people managed to put two and two together, they would know that Raven Branwen was a Maiden, and the only people other than the Tribe who knew were either dead, her husband and her daughter. She didn't want that, so at least it would hide the very recognizable head of hair, weapon and mask she was known for.

Ignoring all of that, she closed her eyes under the mask and began to display her power. All light seemed to fade as Raven embraced her powers. Thick clouds blocked all light from what previously was a clear night sky only a moment ago. Unlike a few weeks ago when "Vernal" was merely showing off for Cinder and the others, she kept things tame to prove a point but not show off. Now, she had a goal without the need for focusing on impressing anyone or worrying about things in a combat scenario.

It was just her and the powers she burdened herself with.

Deep thunder rolled through the clouds above her head, and the wind started growing fierce. The giant logs, former trees that populated the area, that once were the perimeter of the encampment started rising off the ground as the wind made them float, it's supernatural strength causing even the 1 ton pillars of wood to move like they were nothing.

Yet the woman remained routed, her powers moving everything around her but not paying her any mind at all. It was one of the perks of having a Maiden's power. The power of the elements themselves at your beck and call.

One by one the logs piled up in the centre, encircling the woman who was currently on the pyre, until they were all deposited in a fairly organized fashion. Not bad considering she could only barely control the wind for moving things around, not to the extent she could manipulate fire, earth or ice.

Once the secret Maiden had amassed the pile of wood, she summoned lightning from the sky to strike the pile multiple times, burning parts of it that she willed to grow and blaze hotter and burn brighter as they moved closer to Vernal's body.

' _Goodbye Vernal,_ ' she thought as the blaze grew high and harsh, ensuring that nothing would remain. ' _May you find peace._ ' On that last thought, she threw the tarp that was shrouding her off her body into the fire, then sliced a hole in space and stepped through to their new campsite, where her own small traveling tent and a couple of her belongings had already been placed and was raring to be set up. It was going to give her something to do for a little while, so any distractions were welcomed.

 **~000~000~000~000~000~**

"Well done on completing the journey here," Raven announced as the first of her Bandits came through the treeline into the clearing. The night was well underway, with inky black skies overhead and only glimpses of the shattered moon above them all making its way through the canopy. "I trust things were uneventful on the journey?"

"A few Grimm here and there, and one casualty, but no fatalities."

"I see." She eyed the Captain, making sure he knew she was disappointed in the fact that even one of the men was hurt against "a few Grimm" on their travels. If it was hundreds of Grimm, she may have been more lenient. But it was not, so _she_ was not. "Have them taken to one side, set up the medical hut somewhere central. Any wounds are to be sealed, and then they help the rest of us set up. They can be seen to once we've established ourselves here. If he does not pull his weight, then he is of no use to us anymore."

"I'll go tell him," the Captain deduced, walking away to find and inform the injured party member of what would be happening, and also threaten him with what could be happening. She sighed once he had walked out of earshot, then returned to her work. She began preparing herself for her attack on the White Fang base in Mistral; knowing how Adam seemed to work based on the Fall of Beacon, he would return to his 'secret base' to lick his wounds alone and prepare for a second attack in the near future. Raven was going to use that time to get what _she_ wanted, which was purely and simply revenge.

It really was an unfamiliar feeling for her at the moment, but her mind seemed to be focused on nothing else.

The sudden emotion confused her at first, there was no denying that, but eventually she let the need consume her. Things didn't go the way she wanted back at Haven Academy; Vernal was dead and her status as the Spring Maiden was now out there for not only Cinder - who she _believed_ was dead anyway, but part of her couldn't shake the feeling she wasn't - but also her daughter and now even Tai, who apparently already knew even before the battle.

She was going to correct her losing streak by eliminating one of the many people that dragged her down.

The majority of that day was spent coming up with a plan. The foundation of it all was that she would be doing this alone, and that Adam would pay in blood for what he did to Yang in the past, but also for the second-hand embarrassment he caused at Haven for their cause. When dusk fell that night, the bandit camp was looking a lot more alive than when they started arriving in the predawn of that morning. All of the tents had been erected, including Raven's large tent, the injured bandit was being attended to with a glum look on his face - when you're told that Raven found the fact you were injured pathetic, you weren't exactly going to be walking around with a smile on your face - and the first of the perimeter posts had been placed. The feathered bandit leader wanted as many of the natural trees to remain relatively intact on the outside of their wall, as it gives everything a more natural and less identifiable look.

Raven let the rest of her camp start a fire to commemorate the relocation, but she would not be around for the merriment, no matter how much they wanted her to be. With a slice of the air, a portal materialized in front of her. Glancing through at what waited beyond, her eyebrows shot up in surprise, but she let her expression flatten back to neutral before she made herself known.

"Well well well," she said as the figure spun defensively, "this is certainly an interesting twist." Winter Schnee's eyes widened in surprise as Raven stepped out to introduce herself properly, forcing the Specialist to take a step backwards.

* * *

 _Chapter Beta - **DioRezi**_

* * *

Moving things along nicely, me thinks. These two really are a great pairing to write, especially given their lack of proper representation in Fanfics. C'mon guys, step up to the plate! I don't want to be the only one doing this...

And now, a word from my Beta:

 **I'm _DioRezi_ and I want you to review this chapter. Liked or didn't like chapter, tell me why. Follow and Fav if you want to see more. PM me if you want to talk about Kenjutsu. I will never tell spoilers though.**

What he said.

As always, feedback - good or bad - is most appreciated


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter Beta - **DioRezi**_

* * *

"How are you here?" the Specialist asked through her teeth after she regained her composure. That little falter was not only irritating to the fair haired woman, but also picked up on by the dark haired woman. "More importantly," she added after receiving nothing from the intruder, "why?"

"I'm surprised, most people usually ask who I am first."

"I already know that. Raven Branwen, brother of Qrow Branwen, leader of the roaming Branwen Tribe that slaughter village upon village in Mistral for their own personal gains. Now, answer my questions."

"I must admit," Raven mentioned, dodging both questions like they were nothing to her and digging out one of the graves, "I never expected to run into yet _another_ Schnee in such a short amount of time, particularly one far more knowledgeable of me than the other. It's almost like you all want to be caught at the moment."

"Choose your next words very carefully," the Specialist informed her, "for if you don't hold your tongue, then I will gladly remove it for you."

Raven yawned at the threat. "Recycled trash talk from when you fought my brother back at Beacon; with someone like Jacques Schnee at the helm, I would have imagined that he'd spend more time ensuring that his daughters were better prepared for all aspects of battle." The bandit saw what she was searching for, picked it up to inspect, then placed it back in the ground and covered it up once more.

Confused by the bandit's actions but not showing it, Winter continued on. "My father had 'no time' to work on such 'trivial things', so if we wanted to follow the path we did, it was off our own backs."

"It shows. Your sister nearly died a week ago." Ice blue eyes hardened as they glared into eyes of crimson red.

"What do you know of my sister?"

"She was in Mistral, along with her friends, on a fool's mission to stop the end of the world." Raven played the storytelling up for the fair haired woman in front of her, because for her it was exactly that - a fairy tale. A grim one at that, with an unhappy end for all involved, and even those who weren't. "It's an inevitability, and I tried to reason with them all, but their heads were clouded, and they refused to budge. Because of that, your sister was impaled."

Winter seldom expressed any extreme emotions - as a Schnee, she had it drilled into her at a young age that doing so showed weakness, that whoever they were talking to was getting through to them with their words. But in this case, her body reacted before her mind had the chance to stop herself. She gasped at the revelation, her eyes widening in shock.

"Your sister had the same look on her face when I first found her. She'd been in a crash, and I'm honestly not sure what scared her less, the crash itself, or the fight against a Queen Lancer some of my men claimed to have seen her be in. So, to give her some rest, I found her, and took her in-"

"I refuse to believe that," Winter uttered, centring herself once more. "I know who you are, Raven Branwen. And I know that you wouldn't hesitate to trade us in for a reward at the drop of a hat."

"Observant one, aren't you?"

"I pride myself in that fact."

"Ah, pride. Your sister's downfall. All because she seemed too reliant on her ace in the hole, my associate managed to deplete her Aura entirely before another landed a spear right through the gut." A slick silver saber was unsheathed and levelled right at Raven's neck, the darker coloured woman unflinching at her aggressor's action.

"I do not want to hear another word about my sister. I know that she is safe, so whatever happened at Haven with your 'associates' did not appear to go in your favour. Your threats and your words all mean nothing to me."

"Then why such an aggressive reaction?" she replied. Raven was right; if she wasn't affected by the words, then why did she do what she did? Surely no reaction would have been the better reaction. Realizing her mistake, Winter lowered her sword once more, but not putting it away on the off chance they were to come to blows.

"Why did you come here?" the Schnee asked again, unsatisfied by her lack of a response.

The bandit rolled her eyes before answering. "I came here for a reason that is of no concern to you. All I ask is that if you find Adam Taurus, you bring him to me."

"And why should I do that?"

"Because I wish to kill him."

"Well, this puts us at an impasse then. Adam Taurus is going to be returning with me _alive_ so that the Atlas Military can interrogate him and so that we can begin to end the White Fang's reign of terror on the people of Remnant."

"See, I was under the impression that killing the boy would achieve the same results."

"We would be without valuable information were we to just kill him outright," the soldier reasoned, "he could give us locations, members, plans, anything that will speed up the dismantling of that group."

"And you think that he _wouldn't_ be keeping something like that written down somewhere that we could take for ourselves?"

"This is a terrorist organization; I doubt they have a register of who attended any given meeting or rally."

"Well then, even with your military background, you clearly misunderstand how the mind of a radical like Taurus works. When he killed Sienna Khan, his goal was power through absolutely any means necessary. Even Sienna had limits and things she wouldn't do, even if she was stubborn. Adam is set on one thing, and that's Faunus' being a stronger force against humans. To overthrow Sienna, he would have needed people on the inside here who trusted him enough to not defend their current High-Leader. And I know from experience that trying to remember everyone's names by heart is a difficult task, especially on such short notice."

"I still highly doubt that," Winter countered. "In fact, I just think you're trying to find some sort of justification for killing him. Although I will admit, everything right up until the last part seems to line up with what research I did for planning."

"Well, it helped to have had that mindset once or twice in my life." She was vastly underplaying that, but for the sake of this interaction she didn't need to spill her life story to the Schnee.

"Then I propose an alliance."

Now, Raven liked to think that there weren't a lot of things on Remnant that could render her speechless. She liked to believe that the list was small and manageable. Sadly, Winter Schnee just added to the list.

"I'm sorry, what was that?"

This time it was the fairer of the two who held the upper hand of the conversation. "An alliance. If you claim to have been in the same mindset as Adam at some point, then your aid would be much appreciated."

"I fail to see how your mind is working right now; what do you think you offer that would be of any benefit to me?"

"If you must have a reason, consider this as a way for atoning for kidnapping the only member of my family whom I truly care about. After that, we can call it even."

Naturally, the Ōdachi wielder scoffed it away. "Teaming up with a Schnee is by far one of the lowest things on my list of things I would ever do in my life."

The back and forth between the pair continued for a few minutes, with Raven giving many weak reasons against the idea. But the fact that Winter was refusing to be swayed from her argument at all, even in the face of threats with next to no substance behind them, eventually broke the battle-hardened bandit's resolve and she caved.

"Fine, if that's _really_ what you want, then I accept your alliance proposal." The ravenette extended her hand towards the Schnee, a hand that was taken in a firm, but not overly so, handshake. That polite firmness gave Raven the opportunity to tighten the grip, asserting her dominance over the Specialist. "But by no means does this make us friends. We are temporary allies, fulfilling a means to each other's end; once this is over, we return to neutral standings."

"I can agree to those conditions." The handshake was released, and the two women turned towards the entrance of the base. "Now, how are we going to get him out of here?"

"And why am I going to agree to help you do that?" Raven shot back immediately, not even shifting her gaze.

"Because while I will stop you if you try to take his life, I may or may not turn a blind eye should some slightly over the top harm come to him." The crimson eyed bandit glanced at her new temporary partner from the corner of her eye. "Of course, that's all in theory, I have _no idea_ what will happen when we actually get to him."

"Never would have expected that sort of response from someone like you," the portalling woman admitted.

"I am serious a lot of the time, but I can jest when I so desire. And besides, it's hardly going to dissuade people from the argument that 'all Schnees hate Faunus' if I go around voicing all my opinions. This is an extreme case; he helped destroy Beacon, stole Atlas Tech time and time again, and frankly has been an angsty pain in mine and Atlas' side for far too long."

Raven had to admit, she definitely felt the smallest tug on the corner of her mouth, her body willing her to smile. She ignored it, remaining straight faced and staring towards her goal.

"So, what was your plan for getting into this place?" she asked, avoiding how her lips kept trying to force her into a smile.

"From intel I gathered-"

' _Oh yeah,_ ' she thought with a mental eye roll, ' _"Atlas Specialist"; has a plan for everything, with all details jotted down to the most minute of degrees and is as boring and far from spontaneous as you can get._ '

"-there should be an entrance used only on rare occasions off to the Eastern side of the cliffs. Approaching from there means we have the most amount of time we can have to get as deep into the base as we can without being spotted, and subsequently more of a surprise when we do eventually attack." The fair haired woman indicated over to their right, to the far side of the cliffs. "The entrance is over that way, so we need to make our way through the front of this forest to keep it in sight while we keep out of sight."

"Alright." Raven started walking.

"I said we go _right,_ " she corrected, "not _left_."

"I heard, I'm just ignoring that order on the grounds that there are more traps over there than they let on. And even if they're nothing to you, the guards that are stationed in hiding nearby aren't going to take lightly to someone trying to approach from an angle that only those who have been inside the Headquarters are supposed to even know exists, much less use." She slipped on her mask. "Besides, you need a distraction. Wait for my signal." Raven sauntered off, knowing she had this in the bag and knowing that her cryptics would have left the Specialist confused.

Winter, on hearing Raven's odd words of… were they encouragement? It didn't _feel_ like encouragement. Whatever they were, she was left confused as the darker haired woman walked away from her, disappearing into the trees. ' _I never imagined Raven Branwen to behave in such a manner,_ ' she wondered to herself as she headed off towards the hidden entrance.

Her reputation painted her as a fierce and relentless warrior. There were definitely glimpses of that in their conversation, but that was not 100% the person Winter just interacted with. ' _Then again, I have met that drunken fool of a brother she has on multiple occasions, and I saw Weiss' teammate Yang, who I assume is her daughter._ ' She glanced after the woman once more. ' _With that hair, there's no mistaking it._ ' "Stubbornness and unkempt hair must be prevalent traits in the Branwen family," she finished out loud before finally unrooting herself and heading towards the East.

* * *

"I'm telling you," the guard mentioned to his colleague, this Anglerfish Faunus antenna dangling in front of his face and illuminating some of the area surrounding them, "I saw it right over there. Right where Boris was patrolling."

"…Rick, there's nothing there."

"I'm telling you Emi, bright red eyes on a bird is weird and there was one right _there!_ And we've heard nothing back from him, something's wrong!" He pointed once again to the tree he saw the bird in. Rick's Wolf Faunus partner stared out into the darkening trees once more, seeing no bird of any kind, let alone one with red eyes. "I promise…" he added, almost downhearted at the lack of this mysterious bird.

"It's fine Rick," she mentioned, patting him on the shoulder, "these long shifts can really mess with you."

"Don't be so sure," a new voice warned, bringing the two guards' attention up away from their moping / comforting. "Those birds can be pretty deadly, even against those who are pretty alert of their surroundings." The two guards raised their weapons and shuffled forwards away from the door, aiming out into the newly christened Mistral night. Emi's hands were shaking, Rick's were too, albeit less noticeably.

Suddenly, a shadow appeared above Emi. She only managed to shift her gaze partially skyward before the secret Maiden crashed her boots into her head, knocking her to the ground with a surprise attack. Rick, equally as startled as his now unconscious partner, dropped his weapon and ran straight to the door to sound the alarm. Under any normal circumstance, Raven wouldn't have even let him get five steps away from where he stood. But in this case…

 **~000~000~000~000~000~**

* _Intruder! We have an intruder at the main gate! All guards, I request immediate assistance! Please respond!_ * Winter was far enough away to not be seen, but still near enough to hear that call through the radio. On cue, the two guards grabbed their weapons and ran back through the White Fang base, leaving the entrance completely open.

' _Not bad, Branwen,_ ' Winter thought as she advanced on the opening presented to her, early night time setting in behind her.

 **~000~000~000~000~000~**

The one who called for assistance didn't last much longer after his mayday was sent out. He had played his part, so delivering a strong blow to the back of his head and then tossing him back out into the night removed him as an obstacle for later. Besides, she was merciful for him, he'd done her a favour. Everyone else mightn't be as lucky.

Oh, who was she kidding? They _won't_ be as lucky at all.

The doors flew open, and three more masked guards were already prepared and firing immediately through them. Expecting such a tactic, Raven dodged the bolts fired at her with minimal effort, promptly removing those that fired them from the battle with quick stabs and slices to vital areas.

"Shut the doors!" one of the guards shouted on seeing his comrades killed with next to no effort in front of him, "don't let them in!" The tactic worked for all of 20 seconds, as Raven - sheathing her sword and calling on her Maiden powers with no one around - slammed herself into the large doors at the front of the Faunus activist's complex and knocked them right off their hinges and they broke into pieces, despite being nearly 10ft tall and incredibly durable.

Those guards who weren't immediately crushed by either falling wood or the splinters of the shattered door raised their guns and other weapons towards the woman in front of them. They all feared her, it was evident with the way they were all hesitating to even move, all while she stood there nonchalantly. Once again, this wasn't like her. "Get it done, and get it done quick" was always a preferred method, but with Winter infiltrating from the rear the longer she could keep the fighting here and the more guards she could draw her way, the less of a challenge the Schnee would have in finding Adam in the catacombs of this place.

"If you won't attack," she mentioned, drawing her Ōdachi once more and pointing the blade towards the Faunus clad in black and white, their masks obscuring the utter terror that must have been in all of their eyes, "then allow me to start."

One guard, a large Buffalo Faunus with the horns to match, ran through the crowd of his Faunus kin. In his hand he held a single bladed battle axe with what appeared to be a trigger near the blade, indicating a gun barrel on the other side. With a cry, he aimed a swing at Raven's head, but the masked woman raised her red blade up to parry and knocked him away with a swift kick to the gut.

Once more, she would have just killed him straight away were she doing this on her own, but working with Specialist Schnee meant that she needed to draw this out for as long as possible. Having a prime source of not only entertainment, but also a great stalling tactic, killed immediately wouldn't be in either of their best interests.

The first shot was fired, one from a little Fox Faunus off to one side of the pack. The bandit leader sliced the air, intercepting the bolt mid-flight and parrying it straight into another guard with precision accuracy, then ran towards her second aggressor.

As she came in, other Faunus decided to start moving in for the attack, swinging their own weapons at her in an effort to inflict some damage and feel somewhat useful in this situation. Raven took a swing at one White Fang member with a sword, her red blade cleaving through the weaker metal with very little resistance, and the arm of the same person with just as little effort.

A couple more members charged in, one holding a sword and another a spear-like weapon, and Raven decided to let this one drag out a little longer; Winter wasn't going to be able to get deep into the heart of the complex with zero problems if she finished what she was doing here in record time. Sure, there'd be no one else around to cause problems, but where's the fun in that?

The spear toting Faunus thrust her weapon at the bandit leader, who sidestepped the bladed pole with ease and knocked her off balance when she spun and landed a hit with her gauntlets to the Faunus' shoulder. In that time, the sword wielding Faunus took a swipe at her, but that attack was also stopped with her gauntlets, leaving her own sword out for a counterattack as he tried to re-centre himself. Raven kicked out and landed a heeled blow to the female attacker's back, then thrust her blade forward into the man's abdomen. As he coughed up blood at the sudden strike, the avian bandit was struck aside and winded by the Buffalo Faunus from earlier, having recovered from her earlier attack, but still feeling the pain that it brought.

"You're gonna pay for that," he promised threateningly, raising his battle axe to her. She brought herself up from the floor, wiping away trace amounts of blood that came with the attack.

"At least _you're_ putting up a decent fight," she commented, "these others are doing nothing more than blunting my blade."

The Buffalo grunted. "I'll make you suffer!" Under her mask, Raven rolled her eyes at the insult as the larger Faunus charged at her once more, his weaker and far less intimidating kin joining him.

* * *

It wasn't exactly labyrinthine by any stretch, but the corridors and hallways of the White Fang base were certainly difficult to make her way around, even with the floor plan memorized to a decent level of detail by the Specialist.

What Winter discovered upon entering via the secret back door, which in retrospect really isn't secret if you keep a handful of armed guards stationed outside it at all hours, was that it lead straight into the sleeping quarters for the higher ranking members of the Mistral branch of the Fang. It seemed almost cowardly in the icy blue eyes of the soldier; why would you have an easily accessed hidden exit in what was the Officers' quarters? Surely they should be on the front lines with people if ever invaders entered.

She had to move past that though, these weren't soldiers like Atlas, or even Huntsmen. These were normal Faunus men and women who had been led astray by an extreme individual, with extreme methods of getting what was right, and apparently extreme 'secret' escape plans too.

Once or twice she had to duck behind a support beam to hide from approaching guards, no doubt heading towards Raven's distraction. And only once did she have to double back on herself after taking a wrong turn down a path that lead to a dead end room.

But her trekking paid off and finally lead to her destination. And fortunately for her, her target was here too.

"High-Leader Taurus, what you are asking us to do is _suicide!_ " one member protested. "She is cleaving through our men like they are nothing, we can't keep throwing ourselves at her in an effort to snuff her out."

"When I took over, I was under the impression that my orders would be followed without question." The redhead rose from his throne, making his way down to the subordinate who was challenging his authority. "Why is it that you feel to question them so much?"

"Because it is an insane proposition," he countered, "this woman is very easily taking out even our most skilled and highly trained warriors here, and with our dwindling numbers ever since Haven, we can't aff- _ack!_ " Winter and a few other members in front of Adam recoiled slightly as the man found his chest pierced by Wilt.

"It's funny," the Bull Faunus commented, lifting the man off the ground, "you were always so loyal to Sienna when she was alive, I honestly found it surprising when you defected and decided to side with me. But it seems her method of thinking has settled deep in your mind. It's fitting that I kill you the same way I killed her."

' _So Taurus_ _ **was**_ _responsible for Sienna Khan's death,_ ' Winter thought to herself, making a mental note of it so that she could use that knowledge against him at a later date.

"Let this be a lesson to you all once more," he continued, letting the man slide off his blade, now dark crimson once more instead of its brilliant red, "going against me in any way from this moment on will be signing your own death warrants. Go forth and take this woman out. If she has found out where we operate from, then letting her go only risks more people being brought here against our will. They will come bearing weapons, and we won't be able to stop them if they come. So, we stop them now." Those around Adam now, three men and a female in masks of their own, nodded and turned to leave. That was, until Raven made her way into the Great Hall the meeting was taking place in.

"You really need to invest in better men, Taurus," she quipped, almost strutting towards them, "all of them had no clue what to do, and next to none had Aura. Even non-Huntsmen and Huntresses could take them down with ease."

"Raven Branwen, what a pleasant and unexpected surprise."

"Spare me the niceties; we all know you'd much rather have Grimm rampaging through your halls than have me in here," she scoffed.

His expression turned sour the moment she acknowledged his disdain for her presence. "Well, if you're so aware of that, why don't you turn around and we'll let you walk out of here with your life." Raven just grinned, advancing still as his threats fell on deaf ears.

"You and I are both alike in some ways, you know. One of those ways is how we can treat our enemies, not giving them a chance to stand against us, even if they are seemingly presented with such an option."

"If you know this, then why do you still come closer?"

"Well, that would be telling." Her red eyes shifted over to the corner, spotting a streak of snow white hair that could only belong to a Schnee. She smiled, her expressions hidden by her mask. "But if you must know, I get closer because my associate needs to say something to you."

Hearing her cue, like a true actress who had rehearsed her part a thousand times, Winter emerged from the shadows and raised her blade to him.

"Adam Taurus, on behalf of the Atlas Military and Police Force, you are under arrest. You will be coming with me where you will undergo trial for what you did not only aiding in the Fall of Beacon Academy, but of attempting to copy such a disaster at Haven Academy, along with many other minor and smaller scale things that I really do not have the patience to rattle off to you."

"Talk about a lucky day," he declared, his effort to disguise his fear failing with a tiny crack in his voice, "not only do I have a bandit leader in my midst, but we have the eldest of the Schnee children as well. Killing high profile targets such as yourselves will prove once and for all that _I_ deserve to rule this organization."

"Are you forgetting that these two people have made it _into_ the Great Hall?" one of the high members reminded him.

"What better place to end their existence? On ground that truly belongs to us as Faunus!"

"Urgh, this self-righteous bullcrap his getting on my nerves now," Raven charged. Adam remained on the high ground, not wishing to lose that tactical advantage he currently held over her; Raven was known for her brilliance on the field and in battle, so tactics were his only method of potentially winning this. He did have a home field advantage, so maybe he would use that.

A few of the White Fang members besides Adam went to intercept, but found a black Schnee glyph blocking their path. Some barely even had the time to turn their heads as Winter threw herself at them, her boots colliding with one of their faces and sending him straight into one of the support beams for the grand room.

"I wish for them to have a fair fight, so you shall be battling me," the Specialist informed the remaining three.

"I don't see how this is a _fair_ fight, it's three on one!"

"You seem to have been woefully misinformed about me, how tragic. Allow me to make things clearer for you all." Winter didn't give them a moment to compose themselves as she shot forward, her form perfect as she took the first swing, her blade colliding with the female member's dual sai.

Raven and Adam's red blades clashed with one another, the Huntress turned bandit leader possessing just a fraction more force behind her strike than the red haired High-Leader and shifting him back slightly with the impact, despite his feet digging into the ground as best as he could manage. Wilt hummed with a soft glow on the strike, one powerful enough to charge his semblance significantly. A small smirk grew on his face as he noticed that, but Raven matched it with a larger, also hidden, grin. Their blades still scraping against one another, the dark haired woman relented and drew her blade away from the clash suddenly, making the boy tumble forward into her rising knee.

"Pathetic," she taunted, " _this_ is what classifies as a Huntsmen level fighter nowadays?" She sighed. "I don't know why I am even bothering with you." The Bull Faunus grunted and took another swing at Raven, who was already adapting to the little titbit of information she got from the previous attack.

"I've defeated Huntsmen before," he groaned through the pain in his chest from the knee, "I've killed and maimed them, and I haven't even broken a sweat. I can do it again here."

"Oh yes, I believe you. I've heard stories. But no 'true Huntsmen' have fallen to your blade. You've killed children, inexperienced boys and girls who were still in training to take out pieces of trash like you. You've never even fought a real Huntsmen, have you?"

"I've done more than enough. Beacon fell, and with it were a few of its students."

"But none by your sword." He shouted in anger, dashing at the veteran once more.

Winter was now up against only two of her previous four opponents; the sai wielding woman put up a fair fight, but with no Aura to speak of a strong enough strike to the head was all it took to knock her out of commission, and the first guy she kicked into the pillar hadn't recovered from that attack at all.

One, what appeared to be a Porcupine Faunus if the spiked quills were anything to go by, had a bladed hand cannon that he spent alternating between trying to stab Winter and firing large and fast moving shots to knock her off balance. The other, a Cobra Faunus, tried combining his venomous spit with his two small daggers to cut the Specialist even the slightest and get his venom into her system.

Sadly for them, the gap between the White Fang members and the Atlas Specialist in terms of skill was insurmountable.

Venom soaked metal clashed against Winter's smaller blade, the fair haired woman opting for two sworded combat against a pair like this, as she tried to jab at the man with her larger saber. He barely managed to dodge the bigger blade as his friend fired a shot at the Schnee. Instinctively, she raised a shield glyph to stop the impact, but in doing so left herself open for an attack from the Cobra Faunus. He took a slice at the woman, his blade hitting her chest.

"Got her!" he cried. Winter remained hunched over as he grinned triumphantly.

"Let me ask you," she began to their terror, the clashing of metal still ringing behind her as Adam and Raven still fought, "are you familiar with the concept of Aura? Aura," she continued as she rose to her normal stance and slowly edged towards them with a twinge of malice in every step, "is the manifestation of one's soul. It manifests not only in a semblance, but can also be used as a means to stop attacks such as blunt force trauma of fists, clubs and feet, gunshots and even blades. Each attack diminishes a person's Aura proportionally to the amount of force they had to stop until it breaks. I regret to inform you, but I have barely sustained a single injury since I've been here. As such, my Aura is approximately around 90% full. Your attack did nothing except make me realize that Adam desperately needs to train his subordinates."

Hearing his name, the Bull Faunus turned to the Specialist, only to receive a gloved fist to his mask, cracking it. Winter then used her glyphs to dash straight at the stunned pair of Faunus, knocking them out with precision strikes to parts of their body designed to work even through vast pools of Aura.

Against those who had none? Well, they were out before they even hit the floor.

Adam stood panting at the base of the steps of the hall, his Aura hanging on by threads from the various strikes Raven managed to land on his person as opposed to making contact with his sword and charging his semblance. Raven stood opposing him, with Winter joining her. The bandit leader even removed her mask for the first time since the forest outside.

"This is just sad now." Both women stared down at the beaten enemy, Adam's Aura flickering slightly now. "I never mentioned why I was here, did I?"

"You're trying to bring me in to make me see the error of my ways. But that won't do any go- _uff!_ " A quick kick to the gut stopped his talking, whilst also fuelling his semblance a little more and shattering his Aura in one action.

"No, that is why the Schnee is here."

"Hey, I _have_ a name, I would like it if you would use it."

"Not now," the bandit chided. Winter folded her arms in distaste as Raven continued. "No, _I_ am here because of what you did at Beacon." The ravenette let her statement sink in, but all that did was give Adam enough time to start chuckling to himself, which eventually became a full blown laugh.

"What do you possibly have to defend that place? The once great Ozpin was in charge of that school, that kingdom, and now look at it."

"I am aware of that. I guessed that it was going to happen, and it did. I tried telling people, but no one listened." Winter raised a snowy eyebrow at that. "So I did what was best at that point and stayed away." She clenched her fists, the secret Maiden fighting ever so hard to keep her true trump card hidden. "So not only did you destroy a place I called home for four years and made good friends there, not only did your act of terrorism aid in killing one of the only men who could potentially end this war against darkness, but you also led to an evil greater than you gaining access to one of the four keys to the weapons that would turn the tide in the battle for our lives. Worst of all, you hurt my daughter."

Adam smirked. "So, the blonde one who tried to intervene when I was speaking to my beloved was your daughter?" He scoffed at the notion. "What a fall from grace; aside from her hair there was no resemblance at all. She was a weak and feeble girl who fell to a single strike. Like **THIS!** " He grabbed the handle of his sword and put all the energy he had in his semblance into this one Moonslice. Raven saw the attack coming, but Winter wasn't as quick on the draw as either of the darker themed sword wielders.

In a move that was completely instinctive, she leapt towards Winter and threw her down to the ground under the slice, taking the brunt of it all on her left shoulder and upper back. Her curse in pain rang through the hall, and she stumbled and dropped to her knees as her pain threshold had been passed in an instant. Even with a lot of Aura left to burn, it cut right through it, and that shock along with the sheer force of it all was more than enough for the red eyed bandit leader.

Adam tried fleeing, using the fact the Schnee was off kilter and the bandit was in so much pain to his advantage. What he didn't expect was his leg to suddenly be encased with ice not three steps from where he first stood, his body falling and crashing against the ground with a hard thud. With a groan, he got back up and looked at the two women, now advancing on him once more, albeit with Raven bleeding a lot from her left side even with her Aura working to stop it.

"This is for my arm," she said as she kicked him hard in the gut. "And this," she added with a strong punch to the face, knocking him out completely, "was for Yang."

"Well," the Schnee sighed, "it seems that the mission is complete. We can get… Raven?" The bandit woman fell, unable to keep herself upright through the agony. She screamed and cursed, not helping in any way other than to let Winter know that she was still in pain. "It's okay Raven, I can get a military medic to look at it as soon as possible. You're just going to need to wait it out while I give a call." Raven tried protesting, but Winter had already stood up and paced away.

* _Specialist Schnee, how did the mission go?_ *

"It was successful, sir. Adam Taurus is currently unconscious and awaiting pickup."

* _Great work Schnee. Correct me if I'm wrong, but is that… screaming in the background?_ *

"It is sir. It's why I'm requesting an immediate medical evac on my position. We have one casualty along with the target, she needs urgent attention."

"I don't need _that,_ Snow cone, I need my sword. I can get someplace myself in less time."

* _Is that… Raven Branwen I hear?_ *

"You know each other?"

* _You know we are both acquainted with her brother, I happened to know them both for longer._ *

"Hey Jimmy," the bleeding woman called out. Winter tried suppressing a grin when the General moaned an almost fed-up * _Oh Gods, not this again_ *, but with no one around to see her besides the party of two on the floor - one being unconscious - she let her mouth twitch upwards more noticeably. "Listen, as much as I'd love to meet up, I need to be somewhere far quicker than your machines can get here." She grabbed her sword, stood and was still thankfully strong enough to active her semblance to tear through reality to open a portal. Sadly, she couldn't stand for long afterwards and tumbled back to the floor.

* _This isn't time for your old games, Branwen._ *

"I know. How quick can you get your men to Mistral?"

"It would take a team I have stationed in that region roughly 40 minutes to get there if I send them out now."

"You won't have tha- _argh!_ " The pain shot through her arm again. "Adam Taurus will be in Mistral. You might get him back, you might not. Same goes for Winter here." She motioned for Winter to cut the call, which she did.

"Why did you say that about me?" she queried, lifting the woman up to support herself on her shoulder.

"Because I'm not sure Jimmy would want to see his prized pupil kicking the face of the White Fang leader a couple of times."

"I would do no such thing!" she protested.

"Even aft- _gg!_ Even after all of those years hiding away from them? They made your childhood hell, this can be minor payback. And who knows, you might enjoy it so much you get hooked. Hence th- _grr!_ Hence the comment."

She considered it, but declined. That was, until he started moving again. Winter promptly jumped over and landed a heavy heel to the face, knocking him out completely this time.

"That was at least _slightly_ therapeutic, right?" The portal convulsed, not used to being open this long and with an owner who was losing a fair amount of blood. "Quick, chuck him through and then we'll go through ourselves." Winter did just that, following her new friend's request like they'd been partners for years. ' _This'll give them something to... to talk... about..._ ' Raven thought as she slipped from consciousness into a void of black.

* * *

 _Chapter Beta - **DioRezi**_

* * *

Finally have the two titular characters interacting in a proper way. At best, I'd say their friendship was strained. Worst, it's forced. But we have the beginnings of a story, and I hope you're going to stick with us through this. Speaking of us:

I'm _DioRezi_ and I want you to review this chapter. Liked or didn't like chapter, tell me why. Follow and Fav if you want to see more. PM me if you want to talk about Kenjutsu. I will never tell spoilers though.

As always, feedback - good or bad - is most appreciated


	4. Chapter 4

_Chapter Beta - **DioRezi**_

* * *

Oscar stumbled his way to the seats, gripping his arm all the way. He decided to forgo sitting in his favourite chair - which to be fair, was actually _Ozpin's_ favourite chair - in this place and instead settled himself down on the couch.

Sure, the fight had pushed him way beyond his limit as a person and even as a host to whatever Ozpin truly was, to the point that even a week later the man in his head was still out of it and was unable to talk, but he had survived, and that's something he couldn't knock on the chin. Either that, or he was finally letting the young teenager have some time to himself. Certainly a useful thing when he'd spent the first day after the Battle for Haven unconscious, and days two through five bedridden. The final day of rest was near enough enforced on him by multiple people, so naturally he complied.

Nora told him he needed to because she was a doctor. Ren then informed him that she had no medical training whatsoever and that "simply owning a nurse's uniform" didn't count, unless that'd make Jaune a girl just because he owned a dress. Also, Nora was a girl and girls were scary.

Yang made him stay in bed longer because, as a big sister, her big sister instincts were telling her that him leaving the bed was a bad idea. Weiss countered that by saying that she never got those instincts with her younger brother, and that she was adamant Winter never got them for either her or Whitley. Also, both Weiss and Yang were girls and girls were scary.

But it was Ruby who convinced him to remain in bed. She told him in the gentlest way she could at the time that remaining in bed will do his body good, especially after draining his Aura completely through exertion - that always made the recovery worse than battle inflicted Aura depletion, for her at least. Giving the body just that little more time to heal, even when it's at 100%, meant that he wasn't going straight back to training and trekking around when he'd been out of it for a little while. Let his body recover as well as his Aura.

But on top of all that, it made it easier for Ruby to spend more time with him. She was the closest to his age, so it made the most sense to her. And despite being a girl, Ruby wasn't scary at all.

"Hey Oscar," came a timid voice from behind him.

It helped that she had a slight crush on him, and he with her.

"Hi Ruby," came his reply, not caring to look over his shoulder at her because he just knew where she was going to end up in a few seconds.

"How're you getting on?"

"I'm… coping," he admitted. "Ozpin took so much out of me that day that an Aura coma was the only way my body could recover."

"Why did you let him?"

"I didn't. If anything, I tried to stop him." Ruby couldn't help but let out a gasp at the revelation. "Ozpin forcefully took over my body despite my protests to let me stay in control and talk Hazel down." The silver eyed prodigy glared at the young boy's forehead, trying her best to express her irritation at the man currently in hiding within his head." The glare won't work on him, he doesn't physically exist anymore."

"He's still in there," she replied, not wavering once from her stare, "and that's enough for me." The young farm boy chuckled, breaking his friend's concentration and bringing forth a giggle of her own. They stopped laughing and ended up staring into each other's eyes, supernatural silver and hazel getting lost in the other.

Oscar, in a sudden bout of brave, shuffled right next to Ruby so their legs were touching and found her hand. "Thank you for caring about me so much," he told her.

Sporting a slight blush, she replied with "ah, well, I care for all my friends. But… you're special."

"Who's special?" Nora blurted as she appeared from behind the couch, causing both of the youngsters to scream in fright and jump away from the sudden intruder. "What?"

"Nora!" the crimson tipped reaper shouted back, not initially intending to raise her voice to her teammate - were they still teammates? Questions for later - but her body made the decision for her. "We were trying to have a private conversation here!"

"Oh my Gods, were you about to get 'Together-Together' with Oscar?!"

"No!" she cried.

"What's with all the shouting?" came Yang's voice, the blonde walking into the room with a bed ready Weiss, a casual looking Blake and the two JN_R boys in tow. "I thought we agreed to an early night before we headed off."

"I'm with Firecracker," Qrow added, making his own way in from a different room, stumbling as he did so, "the screaming had better have a PG-13 reason behind it, else I'm making you _all_ train extra hard for doing anything like that in my presence."

"Uncle Qrow, that's gross!" his revolted niece said, everyone missing the quick guilty glances the older three members of RWBY shot each other, Weiss near enough glaring at Yang especially, like she knew something.

"Ruby was about to get 'Together-Together' with Oscar!"

"Nora, was that what they were _really_ doing? Or was that what you _think_ they were doing?" Her partner remained neutral throughout, doing his best to be the moderator of the discussion.

"I mean… they were sitting pretty close together."

"That doesn't mean that they-"

"And they were holding hands." Everyone present knew that Ruby was the speediest of them all, but even with her trademark speed she felt she could never outrun the embarrassment that she was now feeling. Both Oscar's and her own face lit up brighter than Vale in the Festive Season.

"That's private matters then Nora," Yang informed her quirky friend, "let them have the moment. They deserve it, and we owe it to them." Ruby smiled at her sister, silently thanking her for understanding. She was sure that the 'Big Sister "If you hurt her or break her heart, I'll kill you" Talk' with Oscar would come if _,_ and it was a fairly large if, anything would come of this.

A portal opened in the main room, causing all nine people to spring into action at once, those with their weapons on them pulling them out at the ready, and Yang, who just got into a fighting stance, slicing through the tension like a sword through the fabric of space… wait…

"Everyone be on your guard," Qrow warned. ' _What are you doing Raven?_ ' he asked himself. Yang also had questions, knowing how her mother's semblance worked meant that she had actively chosen to approach either her Uncle or herself. Knowing Raven, it wasn't going to be her.

Blake was the only one out of the loop, not knowing what Yang's Mom's semblance was or how it worked. To her, the world decided to tear at the seams right in their front room.

"Does anyone want to explain to me what is going on here?" No sooner was the question posed, something came through. Well, not some- _thing_ , some- _one._ "Adam?!" Sure enough, the recently beaten White Fang leader fell through the rip in reality. Unconscious or not, he was there in the flesh, in front of them all once again.

"No… no nonono no…" the blonde brawler stuttered out in a panic, her arms shaking violently at the mere sight of the redhead. Unable to cope, the young woman took off back to her shared room, tears already falling from her eyes.

"Yang wait!" Blake took off after her, a) to make sure her partner was okay, but b) to get away from Adam again. She knew that she had moved past him, but that didn't mean she wanted him around.

"What in the…" Everyone heard the heels clicking along the floor towards them, some people gripping their weapons tighter in preparation for the potential fight. "Raven, what are you doing he-" Qrow didn't get to finish the sentence, as an unconscious Raven was dragged through the portal, the glowing gateway dissipating the moment the two women came through. "Ice Queen?!"

"Winter! Oh, I am so glad to-"

"No time for introductions and formalities, we need to get Raven to a med bay stat, and the boy to a secure holding cell."

"Look, as much as we'd want to take my sister in and nurse her back to health, she was part of the group that decided to attack us at Haven Academy little over a week ago. That sort of time frame ain't gonna fix this."

"Do you not care for her life?" the Specialist countered. "She saved mine from the likes of Adam Taurus. She pushed me out of the way so that she would take the brunt of the impact and save me. That warrants some form of attention, even if it's minimal. I will discuss matters with her surrounding the Haven attack personally." There was a long, uncomfortable silence among those in the safehouse. No one seemed to be willing to budge.

"Well, _I_ can't take him to the authorities," Weiss mentioned to the crowd, hoping to at least shift the focus away from everyone just staring at each other. "Why don't you go Nora?"

"I… don't know where it is."

"I do," Jaune said, stepping forward slightly, "I'll go with you to-"

"Sorry Jaune," Ruby interrupted, "but we need you here to help heal Raven up. You did wonders with Weiss, we need you to do it again." The blond agreed, but not without an express grumble of dissatisfaction. "Ren, can _you_ go with Nora instead?"

"Of course," the stoic ninja of JN_R nodded.

"Looks like we're staying here a couple more days, kiddos," Qrow sighed, taking out his flask and going back to his room to drink in peace.

"Does he ever stop drinking?" Winter said out loud in annoyance.

"Sadly, I have never known him not to be at least slightly tipsy," Ruby clarified as she took Raven over her other arm and helped move the bandit leader to an easier to work location. "Jaune, Weiss, get my bed ready for her. We'll be in in a minute." Ruby turned to Oscar, the only other person in the room now. "Sorry to ask this of you, but could you run and get Mr. and Mrs. Belladonna, as well as Ilia and Sun please? They'll still be expecting to leave tomorrow morning."

"Sure thing." And with that, he was gone, leaving Winter and Ruby to carry Raven into the red reaper's temporary bedroom.

* * *

' _Why was the floor soft? Floors aren't supposed to be soft._ '

{shuffle}

' _Yep, the floor is definitely soft. Did I send us to a Mistral Mental Asylum? I hope not, but it would explain the soft, padded floor._ '

She took a second to think a bit more.

' _Hang on a minute, I have never even been there, how can I send us somewhere I've never been?_ '

{shuffle}

' _Oh… this is a bed. That's why it's soft._ ' She finally let herself move around and stir a little bit more, knowing that wherever she ended up had at the very least a bed.

"Easy, easy," she heard. It sounded familiar, but she couldn't quite place it. "You're still recovering. I need you to stay as still as you can so that it'll be easier." Raven didn't want to open her eyes just yet, not until she knew exactly where she was and at the very least who she was with. "Why am I doing this?" the voice asked, not to herself it seemed, so there was definitely someone else in the room. "After what she did to us all, I don't see why I should."

"You are doing this because, as an Atlas Military Specialist, I hold the same rank as a Huntress, therefore I am superior to you as a Huntsman in Training, and as such you should do as I instruct. Or was that something else Professor Ozpin neglected to inform his students at Beacon?" Winter's voice. Good, they made it through. Raven thought about stirring completely, but equally wanted to hear the conversation through.

"No, he told us, I just don't see _why?_ I know you're ordering me to do it, but it just doesn't make sense to me."

"Sometimes it doesn't have to make sense, Mr. Arc. Sometimes you have to do what is asked of you." She was sure she heard him mumble something under his breath, something about Pyrrha Nikos. She was his former partner back at Beacon, wasn't she? That made the boy here Jaune Arc, which made sense when she remembered who was there at Haven. Seeing no need to remain unresponsive anymore, red eyes fluttered open to see the blond boy from the battle and Winter by her bedside, the latter standing tall over the siting boy and herself lying down on the bed.

"Winter?"

"Ah, good to see you awake Raven. Mr. Arc here has been doing his best to get you healed. The wound itself has sealed and he appears to be working on mending the flesh."

"Well, I'm doing what I can really. I only learned what my semblance is a week ago, so I'm just letting it do what it needs to." Raven hummed a response, not in approval or disgust, more in impartial acknowledgement. Jaune clued in on that, screwed up his face and retracted his hands, the white light coming from him fizzling out into nothing.

"Why have you stopped?" Winter quizzed. "I was under the impression you would completely fix up your patient before taking a break."

"This is only the second time I've ever used my semblance, so forgive me for not knowing what I am and am not capable of instantly," he snapped back, not raising his voice but conveying his irritation through the harshness of his words. "I think I need a few minutes to recharge just a bit." The knight didn't give the Schnee any chance of responding and making him stay, rising and leaving the room as speedily as he dared without it looking like he desperately wanted out.

With the click of the door closing, bandit and Specialist were left alone once again.

"I don't think he likes me."

"And why would that be?" Winter asked, her own tone harsher than it had been previously, even with Jaune in the room.

The ravenette huffed, turning away as best as she could through the pain, which she had to admit had receded a fair amount thanks to the blond boy's work. "Oh please, if you're going to attempt to give me a lecture, you can save your breath and I will make my way back to tribe and recover there."

"I wish to know why you were there, and make my own mind up on where I stand," she affirmed with her arms now crossed over her chest. "And no, you won't be going anywhere; I saw how you create your portals, so your Ōdachi is being kept away from you so that you _won't_ escape."

"And already you have impressed me with your skills and tactical mind more than my own daughter. _She_ seems to think rushing in solves everything."

"Whilst I'm not particularly shocked to see you degrade your own daughter like that, I take pride in saying that my job depends on me being vigilant and having a good tactical mind." The Schnee smirked. "And _yours_ is to keep talking until you've sussed a way out of here, then take any chance you see and flee. Not today, unfortunately. You are staying in here with me, and I will get my information from you. One way or another."

"Clever girl…"

"So," Winter continued, the slightest grin on her lips from the praise given out by the red eyed woman in front of her, "why were you there?"

"How close are you to Jim?"

"You're deflecting the question!" the Specialist cried.

With a far more level head, Raven informed her, "I am trying to determine how much you know so that I can inform you about everything you're missing out on, provided you are willing to dive down that rabbit hole."

"In that case," she levelled, " _General Ironwood_ sees me as someone very close and a person he can trust above almost all else."

"Enough to share some of the secrets of the world around us?"

"There… was one time, back in the days leading up to the Fall of Beacon, where I was dismissed from Ozpin's office, yet one of the girls from the school remained in there."

"Pyrrha Nikos, I am aware of that." Raven tried sitting up, groaning from the pain.

"Why don't you just lay down?" Winter asked.

"I'm stubborn," came the almost too easy reply, eventually finding a balance between comfort and no pain. "So, it seems the General didn't wish you to know much about it. It's sad, but understandable."

"And what exactly are you trying to imply?"

"Nothing. Just that it seems like old Ironwood wanted his circle very tight." She scoffed slightly. "Well, looks like I get to be the one to invite you down the rabbit hole."

"Enough with the cryptics," Winter demanded, "tell me what you know and why you were there, or else I will reopen those wounds and let you writhe here in pain until you comply."

"…I like you," she grinned. Rolling her icy blue eyes, Winter insisted that her guest explain everything she could as soon and as clearly as possible. "There are a great number of things that are based on reality, but many believe to be works of fiction. Most of the fairy tales told to children are based on some things that happened long ago. The Tale of Two Brothers speaks about two of the First Gods of Remnant; one created day, life and light, the other brought death, destruction, darkness and, above all else, the Grimm. They also created four relics of immeasurable power, a Relic of Creation, Destruction, Knowledge and Choice. And to settle their differences, their last act was to create humanity. The Man with Two Souls stems from a curse. And the four sisters that became the Maidens when bestowed with powers from a wizard comes from Ozpin himself."

"Why would Professor Ozpin create a story like that?"

"He didn't create the story, it's about him." Winter honestly found that hard to believe, but Raven pushed on. "An old man, usually depicted wearing green with silvery grey hair, is visited by four sisters and after showing him what humanity can do, bestows them with magical powers. Those four became the first Maidens, and their powers are passed down from person to person as time goes on."

"What sort of powers?"

"Did you never get read any of these stories when you were younger?" Raven asked in frustration. The alabaster woman simply raised an eyebrow. "Right; Schnee. Slipped my mind."

"That's a first," she joked, "normally that's all that remains on people's minds."

"The Maidens were gifted with amazing abilities, controlling the weather and the elements around them. Each Maiden, whilst naturally favouring one element, can create the same sort of things Dust can without the use of it. Magic, if you will. All gifted by a man who lived a secluded life, surrounded by mysteries and enigmas, and who trusted only a certain few people on Remnant."

"But Ozpin is dead, how can he be behind all of this?"

"Remember what I said about the curse?" Winter nodded. "The Gods cursed the Wizard to be reincarnated every time he dies into the body of someone with the same mindset as his own, cursed to forever walk the land until Salem is no more."

"Who is this 'Salem' person you speak of?"

"One of the biggest secrets on Remnant, and the single biggest threat to human and Faunuskind. Salem is the Master of the Grimm. She is a force that will not rest until Remnant is crushed under her thumb, and the only one who can truly delay her - for she can't be stopped - is the reincarnation of the Wizard, who just so happens to be Ozpin."

"But, again, Ozpin is dead."

"How observant," she muttered sarcastically. "But tell me, do you notice anything odd about the people your sister is hanging around with?"

"Where do I start?" she sighed. "For a bunch of young adults, they act so carefree, even in the face of what has been put in front of them. With the obvious exception being my sister's teammate, Ms. Rose. She still seems far too young and chipper to be a team leader."

"Just like her mother," Raven mentioned.

"You knew her mother?"

"Much like her daughter, Summer Rose was the leader of her team at Beacon, Team STRQ - the best team to ever grace the halls of Beacon."

"She was your team leader?"

Raven nodded, adding that "much like your sister's team, STRQ seemed like favourites to the faculty. Extra missions, getting away with things they probably shouldn't, trust given when they _definitely_ shouldn't. We were no older than them when we learned what I just told you, and our whole world views changed in that instant. And the biggest one was about Ozpin and his reincarnations. He mentioned how this form he was in was one of countless forms he had taken in his battle against Salem. And only last week did I find out that the little boy sitting in there with them all is the most recent reincarnation of Ozpin."

"That boy in there?" Winter uttered in disbelief, earning another nod from Raven. "He's… what? Twelve?"

"I'm guessing fourteen, but I understand where you're coming from. He's far too young to do anything worthwhile, and this is the form that Ozpin had unwillingly taken. No combat experience, very little fighting in his life, no knowledge of Aura or semblance, a complete blank slate. But Ozpin is still in his mind."

"Hence why you mentioned how 'The Man with Two Souls' was about a curse, and that curse is Ozpin's."

"You catch on fast."

"And everyone in there is now aware of all this?"

"I guess. From what was said last week, no one seemed to be fazed."

"And you still have some explaining to do about why you were there," the Specialist gently reminded.

"You aren't going to let that go, are you?"

"Whether it's the Schnee in me or the soldier I do not know, but when I set out to do something or get information from someone, I do not like leaving empty handed. And while yes, I have gained a lot of valuable information from you about things I never expected to even be a possibility, I still haven't been told what I came here to be told."

Raven smirked at the answer, shrugging away any doubts she had about telling the fair haired woman anything. "If you insist. I was there to save myself and my tribe. We had one of the Maidens stumble into us one day, and she was scared and frightened of her power. We took her in, we trained her, but she perished at the Battle of Haven fighting against Cinder Fall, the current Fall Maiden-"

"Where you acquired the powers." For the umpteenth time that day, Winter reduced the bandit leader to a state of silent shock. "I may not have been present to know the ins and outs, nor do I claim to know exactly what happened, but Adam Taurus' leg didn't magically get encased in ice."

' _I mean…_ ' the ravenette thought to herself, her mouth too stunned to be sassy but her brain still firing on all signals.

"So, either you're telling the truth, that the original non-Fall Maiden died in the battle and you got the powers then, or you are lying, and you've had them for longer. Either way, you are one of the remaining three Maidens."

"…" Raven honestly didn't feel like saying anything at the moment. Anything she said condemned her and let Winter know she was telling the truth, and if she was being completely truthful, confessing that she was one of four powerful, literally mythical women now wasn't on her list of things to do today. In fact, the only list it was on was the mental list in her head that consisted of 'Specific and important things never to tell anyone'.

Defeated in her own mind, she sighed and confirmed her suspicion with a nod.

"Who knows?"

"Besides you? My daughter Yang definitely knows, so everyone else out there may have been informed, they may not. Yang's father, my ex, found out by accident one day, but only told me a few days ago that he knew. My tribe know, obviously, and Cinder knows… knew."

"What happened to Ms. Fall?"

"I want to say I killed her, let her fall to her death in the caves beneath Haven Academy. But I don't feel any different. Last time, when the previous Fall Maiden was killed, and Cinder took her powers, I felt that shift in power. I didn't know who had the powers, I just knew they had moved. I didn't feel anything like that this time, so it makes me think she isn't dead."

With a small grin, Winter mentioned to Raven, "So, you've been a Maiden for some time then?" Raven eyed the Specialist with curiosity. "Cinder Fall made a name for herself back at the Battle of Beacon, but her actions before that point are unknown, even to this day. Destroying Beacon's tower clearly put her on the map of many authorities. But I highly doubt that she would have attempted such a stunt without an aim in mind. So, I'm only assuming such, but my guess would be that she went to Beacon to acquire the Fall Maiden's powers, something you felt that day when she accomplished her goal." The Tribe Leader cursed the logical mindset Winter was in, figuring everything out with only a few details from herself. "Does anyone else know? Ozpin?"

"Gods, no. If he knew, he'd try to herd me into a safe place and lock me up to keep me out of harm's way. The less people who know, the safer I am."

"Rest assured then, your secret shall remain safe with me." Raven eyed Winter, sceptical of her claim.

"And why should I believe you? I am the leader of the Branwen Tribe, a group of bandits Jimmy and the rest of your council back up North want gone. You have ample opportunity to capture me, or use the information I gave you against me, why not take it?"

"Because you assisted me in my mission to take down Adam Taurus, even though it went against your own of killing him, you saved my life and you told me things that I had no right to initially know. The latter I really believe you must have at least some semblance of trust to tell me, I don't see you telling that to anyone who passes you on the street." The red eyed woman did have to admit, she told Winter a _lot_ in the past hour, but really no more than what she told Yang and Winter's sister back at the bandit camp. "As such, I feel I owe a debt to you."

"I don't want to be owed anything by a Schnee," she replied harshly.

"But is that genuinely because I am a Schnee? Or is it for some other reason?"

Why was this woman getting to her so easily? Her years as a soldier clearly made her very good at this sort of thing, and Raven's weakened physical state probably hindered her mental state too - this sort of thing should be a cakewalk for the bandit, coming out the other side victorious.

Not today, it seemed.

"Your silence betrays you, Raven Branwen. I expected more from someone with a reputation such as yourself." She rose to her feet, arms behind her back once more as she made her way to the door. "I will retrieve the Arc boy, see if he's 'recharged' enough to finish patching you-"

"You remind me of someone." For once, it was Winter who didn't know what to say or do as she spun to look at the injured woman on the bed. "You… remind me of me. Strong, independent, not willing to let her life interfere with what she wants to do."

"So what if I am?"

"I've never really met another me before," Raven admitted, "that's why I kept stopping and remaining silent for seconds that dragged on too long - I've never been on the receiving end of that sort of person."

"And your point?"

"I accept the fact you feel you are indebted to me. I wish for us to try and do things together in the future beyond that debt being paid though. I must admit, it is nice to have someone I can understand for once." The Specialist cracked a genuine smile, a rare sight if you weren't either Weiss or Klein.

"That is something I, too, can get behind."

"But, if we are going to do that, I will need to bond with you." The soldier recoiled in disgust, pointing her sword at the bedridden woman.

"You will do _no such thing!_ " she snarled. "I am not some sort of call girl you can have your way with just to 'bond with me'!" Raven's initial surprise turned into uproarious laughter. "What is so funny?!"

"I'm not that kind of person either, but that's not what I meant by bonding. It's about my semblance and how it works. I need to form a strong emotional bond with someone to be able to use those portals to go straight to them." Realizing the error of her ways, and feeling a blush growing on her cheeks, Winter sheathed her sword and straightened herself up.

"Yes. Well, perhaps that is important information to say before the fact, not after. I accept to partake in this bonding." A small smile graced Raven's lips in thanks. "Now, I will bring the boy back in here. Hopefully he would have calmed down by now. Just pretend to be asleep and he may just ignore you." Winter left the room, leaving the ravenette to stew alone with her thoughts.

* * *

 _Chapter Beta - **DioRezi**_

* * *

New chapter is here!

Sorry this one took so much longer to upload than the ones before, but **DioRezi** has had some time with family and as such put this on low priority. What? We're people, and we're allowed to have holidays.

Also, I've done some slight ammendments to Chapter 1 of the story. Nothing major, but with RWBY Chibi showing us all of Klein's personalities, I've swapped the colour of his eyes when he's being Bashful to fit with canon (well, Chibi canon, at least)

As always, feedback - good or bad - is most appreciated

 **DioRezi: What do you think of our story so far? I'm interested in everyone's opinions on it, guests included**


	5. Chapter 5

_Chapter Beta - **DioRezi**_

* * *

It had been two days since Raven and Winter stumbled into everyone's world once more. Whilst initial pleasantries were passed up by the elder Schnee, that didn't last very long, and Winter did eventually greet her younger sister properly. There was a huge list of things that the ex-Heiress wished to inform her sister of in the time between the Fall of Beacon and now - and she did indeed tell her everything - but only after spending some time introducing Winter to the rest of the people there.

"You've already met the dolt," Weiss began. The nickname immediately brought out Ruby's best puppy dog eyes and pout.

"But Weiss, I thought we were best friends…"

"I didn't say we weren't," she clarified. The red reaper's expression spun on a dime, cheering up faster than it seemed possible.

"How appropriate," Winter humorously mentioned, prompting the person in question to hold her hands to her hips and utter "Hey!" at the remark.

"These two are my other teammates."

"Hi, I'm Yang Xiao Long, Ruby's sister."

"I'm sorry to point out something that is probably mentioned a lot, but-"

"Same dad, different moms," Yang finished.

"I see. And you are?"

"Blake." The onyx haired Faunus stood opposed to the soldier, her arms folded defensively in front of her, amber eyes staring into icy blue unwavering. Winter's eyes glanced upwards.

"Weiss failed to mention previously that she was on a team with a Faunus." At the mention of that, especially from a Schnee that wasn't Weiss, Blake suddenly became very self-conscious at the fact her bow was currently floating around in the sea between here and Menagerie, and her cat ears were exposed for all to see. They flattened instantly, almost in shame.

"It wasn't my secret to tell," Weiss defended, albeit too late as Blake felt the damage had already been done, and that her fair haired teammate's words were like trying to patch up a hole in her heart with a band aid.

"I see, a secret Faunus."

"I left my old life to get away from prejudice. Hiding who I was kept it that way," Blake huffed.

"I have no qualms with that," the Specialist mentioned, surprising not only the Faunus but a few others in the room as well, "Faunus are people as well, and you should not be afraid of who you are, Miss Belladonna."

"I didn't give you my last name," she said.

"True, but I saw at least some of the fighting for the Vytal Festival, where you were all mentioned by name. And the former leader of the White Fang Ghira Belladonna is in the next room along with his wife, and they both bear a striking resemblance to yourself." Blake's eyes drifted away from the older woman. "I'm sorry to have called you out in such a manner; it is rare for me to do so based on such trivial things such as appearance or family, but in this case, it seemed necessary. I stand by my statement that I have no worries with you being a Faunus. Perhaps before we depart you can introduce me to your parents? I would very much like to have a discussion with them to see what I can do to potentially help better our relationship with the Faunus."

Feline ears perked up slightly at the proposition. "That'd be… nice."

"These three are part of Team JN_R; this is Nora Valkyrie,"

"Hey, big Weiss!"

"Do not call her that."  
"Do not call me that."

"Sorry…"

"Jaune Arc, their leader."

"Hi there."

"Jaune Arc…" the military woman parroted, "where have I heard that name before?"

"Oh, you probably heard it if Weiss told you about all the times that he serenaded her to try to get her to go out with him, but it failed 'cause she constantly slammed the door in his face."

"Nora!"

"What?"

Winter's head turned slowly towards the Arc boy, her eyes locking onto him and never once breaking her stare. "I remember now. Weiss _did_ mention someone trying to woo her with song back at Beacon."

"I mean… yeah, but I… uh…"

"I also remember promising my sister something should I ever come across that very person who dared to do that."

"Winter," the younger Schnee pleaded, grabbing her arm as she continued, "Jaune has changed a lot since then, and we've not seen each other in months. I'm over it."

Winter was not convinced. "Do I have your word, Jaune Arc, that you will not be pursuing my sister on any more of your 'romantic endeavours'?"

"I mean-" his attempt at easing into his answer was met with a saber to the throat. Yang, her body reacting to seeing her friend getting threatened by a sword, began clamming up instantly, her arms noticeably shaking once more and her having to physically hold it to stop the jitters. Nora had no such traumas inhibiting her and opened Magnhild intimidatingly, at least in Oscar's perspective. Blake was both intimidated by the suddenness of Winter's sword coming to Jaune's throat and Magnhild's unfolding mere feet away from her. Blake remembered Ursa hides that hadn't survived a blow from that thing. Winter was not phased at all, and Weiss was, much like Blake, more worried that Nora would cause damage elsewhere with the giant hammer waving about the place.

"Nora, put your weapon away."

"Only when she drops the sword from Jaune's throat. I'm _not_ dealing with any more double crossing!"

"It's just… her way of ensuring things are done right, and done her way," Weiss mentioned, guilty expression on her face. Nora's gaze hardened, boring holes into the side of the eldest Schnee sibling's head as she lowered her hammer, yet not folding it down just yet.

"Do. I have. Your. Word?" Winter asked again, seemingly paying no attention to anything and anyone else other than Jaune right now.

"I swear! Just please, don't kill me." The sword dropped from his throat, sheathed meticulously in her scabbard.

"Then the third member," the alabaster haired student finished with a sigh, not wanting another one of her friends stabbed in the past two weeks, "Lie Ren; the most sensible of the team."

"A pleasure to finally meet you. Weiss had said a lot of positive things about you back at Beacon." Winter glanced to her sister, who had reddened in embarrassment, bringing a smile to the older sister's face. "I couldn't help but notice that JN_R isn't exactly a colour. Has Ozpin _finally_ run out?"

"Far from it," Ruby scoffed. "The rest of the leaders in our year have a small betting pool as to how many team names he actually has for his students."

"A pity, they grew tiresome after a little while."

"Well, there _are_ only a finite number of possible colours and four names that form a letter in that acronym."

"I suppose, technically you'd be right." Ruby muttered something along the lines of "Yeah, technicality win" as Jaune spoke up.

"Our full name is Team JNPR, but our fourth member is…"

Failing to complete his own sentence, Ren (once again) seemed to take up the slack and finish it for him. "Our fourth member was… _is,_ Pyrrha Nikos. I'm sure you've heard of her passing at the hands of Cinder Fall atop Beacon tower?"

"I must admit, I had not put it together until that point that she was your teammate. My condolences for your loss." She turned to address the rest of the room. "All of you lost a friend, I can tell." There was a silence for their fallen comrade, the first one they had as a group.

"But we're called Team RNJR now anyway," Nora added, "ever since we trekked here with Ruby, she was our leader, so we're Team RNJR as a result."

"I do not recall asking that of you."

"Yup, you two are _definitely_ sisters alright."

"What does that even mean Nora?!" Weiss cried. "And finally, Oscar Pine," she reflected fast before the pancake fuelled warrior had a chance to answer. The fourteen year old boy stood nervously in the presence of Winter, who loomed over him not necessarily in height (even though she did), but definitely in how either appeared to others.

"Are you part of a team here Oscar?"

"N-no."

"Then why are you here?"

"Winter, please, don't scare him. It's not been easy for him."

"As I can imagine. And how are you, Ozpin?" Calling the ex-Headmaster out brought forth gasps from each and every person in the room.

"How did you know about that?" Nora asked, the first to recover from such a revelation.

"If she's going to be tagging along with you," came an additional voice from behind, everyone spinning in some capacity to see Raven enter the room, "then someone had to tell her about that. I thought I'd save you all the trouble and tell the whole story rather than only providing the information to get her on board."

"Of course it was you…" Jaune muttered under his breath, a couple of people hearing him, but none reprimanding him for it.

Unseen by most, Oscar's eyes flashed yellow as Ozpin took over once more, the first time in nearly two weeks. "This certainly is a surprise to see you here, Raven."

"Oz." Winter's steadfast military posture broke the moment she heard what was unmistakably Ozpin's voice coming from the boy in front of her, with all expect Blake - whose ears shot up at lightning speed, followed swiftly by lowering along with a furrowed brow - being near completely unfazed by it all.

"Can someone please explain to me what just happened," she asked of the room, eyes wide at the revelation.

"Ah, Miss Schnee. Forgive me, it is not like me to normally do this."

' _I beg to differ,_ ' Oscar protested inside his own head.

"The story is quite arduous and confusing, so I suggest we perhaps take some time alone to-"

"Is this to do with the curse?"

"Ah." Ozpin looked back at Raven. "You told her about that too, I see." Raven said nothing. "Just as stubborn as I remember you being from back at Beacon. Very well. Yes Winter, this is the curse that was brought upon me in the efforts to defeat Salem, who I have no doubt you would have been informed of by Raven."

"You are correct in assuming so, sir."

"Please, I didn't enjoy the formalities when I was in my old body, that doesn't change now that I am here." She stopped herself from saying anything more, opting to remain silent instead. "My reincarnation, while a long and painful process of trying to readjust to a new body whilst retaining all the knowledge and experience from my previous selves, is necessary in winning the war against Salem."

"A war you cannot win, Ozpin," Raven told him as she stepped forward.

"Raven, now is not the time to be getting into this debate."

"I beg to differ, Oz. Salem cannot be defeated, you of all people should know that. So why are you still trying to fool them into playing the hero? Why send these children out to war when all it will be is a massacre?"

"Because unlike some who, upon hearing what she was and what she was capable of decided to flee, these children stayed and wanted to fight." Raven's anger went from simmering below the surface to boiling right at the top in a matter of seconds, the tribe leader fighting against every urge in her body to keep the Maiden's fire from her eyes and exposing that secret. "The odds may be stacked in her favour, but that doesn't mean she holds all the cards. From what your daughter informed me, Salem no longer has the Fall Maiden at her disposal, meaning she cannot gain access to that particular Relic. And while it is a painful loss, whoever the new Spring Maiden is will hopefully never have to worry about getting caught in this mess." Raven couldn't help her eyes from darting over to Yang, standing off to one side with her arms crossed and her expression dissatisfied with her mother's mentality. The Branwen couldn't help but silently thank her daughter from keeping the little titbit of information about her powers a secret, even from Ozpin.

"I tried to say this to you last time," Ruby added, stepping forward slightly, "but if you work with us we can try and stop this mess."

"Miss Rose is right, Raven. We could use someone with your skill on our side. Having more people with the necessary skill as well as someone with the Silver Eyes means-"

"It didn't help last time Oz, did it?" she spat back. "Summer _died_ even with her special gifts, what difference will it make now?"

The only thing that could rival the silence that fell in the room was the tension that came with it. Summer Rose was a sore subject for anyone who knew her, and right now most of the people closest to her were standing within a few feet of one another.

Ozpin - trapped by his own curse and failing to protect one of the best students to pass through his halls in a generation from a seemingly standard Grimm attack.

Yang - the young girl who had already gone through the loss of one Mom only to lose another not long after, picking up the pieces of a broken family at such a young age.

Ruby - having to have her own sister explain to her young self that her Mommy wasn't going to be coming home, and having to comprehend life without her.

Raven - the woman who wished she could go back and know what was going through her best friend's mind when she chose to selflessly sacrifice herself for everyone, and hopefully change it so that she wouldn't be alone.

Only Ruby's first sniffle was strong enough to break the unease in the air. Yang rushed to her side, comforting her younger sister with soft words and tracing gentle shapes on her back. Feeling her top getting wet from her sister's tears, Yang silently glared at her mother, eyes now burning a furious crimson. The ravenette spun and left, Winter following to try and talk some sense back into her.

"I did not wish for the conversation to take this turn," Ozpin admitted. "I'm sorry for it leading down that path."

"Next time," the blonde growled, "be more mindful of who you could be hurting when trying to prove a point."

The man sighed. "It always has been a great flaw of mine." And with that, he relinquished control, giving the fourteen year old his body back.

"Well that could have gone better," Nora mentioned, an innocent enough smile on her face.

* * *

Winter managed to find Raven as she was picking up her Ōdachi, probably aiming to take her leave.

"And where do you think you're going?" the Specialist asked of her companion.

"You don't hold any tether for me here, so I am going back to my tribe and leaving this fool's errand to the fools."

"So, I am a fool now, am I? After we both agreed we would work together in the future?"

"If you choose to follow the path that Ozpin leads, then yes you are. That woman, if you really want to call it that, wants nothing more than to see Remnant in flames. She needs the Maidens to help her do that, to gain access to weapons of absolute power that only one of the four can access each. My work is done, that Relic is out in the open now and therefore my usefulness has run its course. So now my only hope is to stay away from it all, to hide and pray that she doesn't find me."

"Because you are scared."

"I am NOT scared!" she shouted, the Flames of the Maiden burning from her eyes. "I am doing what is right for me to survive!"

"That is a load of lies, and you know it," Winter replied, far calmer than her opposition but still bringing enough heat to get her point across. "You said so yourself, Salem aims to bring the entirety of Remnant to its knees. Running away and hiding like a coward won't stop that from happening, it will merely delay the inevitable."

"You are treading on some thin ice, Schnee. I suggest you stop talking before I drag you through this portal and make you suffer as your family truly should."

Winter yawned at the threat. "Empty threats mean nothing to me." Though she refused to be deterred by pure aggressive behaviour, the alabaster haired woman could acknowledge that the heat Raven was putting out was borderline painfully intense. "I do not want to fight you Raven, because I know you are afraid."

"What have I to fear? No one but other Maidens could touch me now, and one of them is dead. The other two probably have no experience at all. I am _the_ strongest person on Remnant right now."

"A bold claim," she observed, pacing deeper into the room, "but a false one."

"I don't have time for this." With frightening speed and accuracy, Raven grabbed her Ōdachi handle and took a swing, her semblance creating a portal back to the bandit camp. That was all the incentive Winter needed to attack, unsheathing her saber and dashing in towards Raven using a speed glyph.

Due to the nature of the surprise attack, the red clad bandit leader was knocked through the portal without a second to react, the glowing gateway in reality closing moments after and leaving the room bare of anyone.

A few of the bandits around were startled to not only see their leader appearing from nowhere tumbling to the ground, but to also see a Schnee skidding to a halt right behind her, saber drawn and ready to fight.

"That was a foolish move, Winter. You're surrounded by my tribe, and you're on your own. I'd take this chance and leave, or we will simply throw you in a cage and sell you back to Daddy dearest for a high cost."

"You will get no such privilege," the Specialist informed, splitting her weapon into its dual blade form, knowing that a fight was inevitable.

"A body bag it is then." One finger snap later from the bandit leader, three thugs took the cue and rushed Winter immediately, weapons bared and ready to kill. Swapping her smaller blade's grip to a reverse one and a speed glyph appearing under her feet, Winter crouched and pushed herself off, bringing the distance between where she was and where Raven stood to a near zero number in the blink of an eye. She was so speedy in fact, Raven only had the chance to block the strike with her armour as opposed to her blade, the stoic bandit leader grunting under the sudden pressure of an attack like that. "Well, at least you seem like you'll put up a better fight than your sister."

Winter only doubled her efforts on hearing her opponent talking down about Weiss. "You should consider your next words wisely, Branwen. Bringing my sister into this will only give me more reason to bring you down!"

"As if you could do that," she taunted.

Having to refocus her attention to the bandits advancing from behind, Winter pushed off the ravenette's armour and spun around, her saber clashing against the metal of one of their weapons. The man, a scraggly man with deep brown quiff, physically shook from the impact, his body unprepared for the speed of his snowy haired attacker. Seeing the way, he staggered around after the hit, the Specialist did him a favour by smacking the butt of her smaller saber against his forehead, leaving a nice round mark and the man unconscious on the floor.

No sooner had he crashed down, a woman and another man charged in with rifles aimed at her. Being trained in Atlas and with the title of Specialist, one of the many rigorous exercises that all trainees had to take - once they had passed through certain stages of their course, it was too dangerous for complete novices to undertake - was Reaction Training.

This involved, among other things, having a loaded gun aimed at your head from 20 yards away and having to dodge the bullet flying at you, or either hitting the person or knocking a weapon out of someone's hand in the time it took them to draw and fire the weapon, as well as many others. General Ironwood even went as far as to have one of the best quick drawers on Remnant pay them a visit for training, a woman who could fire a gun from her holster in little over 1/4th of a second.

Winter was one of the few who caught on quick, and as such her reactions and awareness of her surroundings were impeccable.

Seeing the gun flash, her head jolted to one side as the round whizzed past her ears, and by the time the second flash came the distance between herself and the nuzzle had dropped from 18 yards to just 3. Her fist crashed into his shoulder, throwing his aim off and knocking his arm out towards the other bandits in the campsite. Some managed to duck and dodge the bullets, one or two were unlucky enough to get struck and taken out. Winter managed to bring her main blade up to put a barrier between herself and the female bandit's bullet, deflecting a second one away as she smacked her sword's handguard into her stomach, bringing her down.

"I'm surprised at you, Schnee," Raven near enough growled, stepping forward and prompting the bandits to back away and let their leader take care of business, "we are bandits. We kill, pillage and plunder from anywhere we want, it would be in your best interests to kill us all-"

"Uh, boss?" one goon tried to counter from the crowd, but was silenced by one of his brothers.

"And yet here you are, not landing a single killing blow. I know you can do it, I've heard stories of some of your missions. You could have done it to Adam Taurus, finished him there and then. So why didn't you? Why _don't_ you?"

"Because bringing you in is what's right. Even if it goes against what my body and mind is telling me to do right now."

The crimson eyed woman smirked, slowly unsheathing her Ōdachi in a matter almost taunting the Specialist. "Forget the rules. Forget your code. Do what needs to be done, or I will kill you first."

"So be it."

Unlike her sister, who requires a sizable start up time for any of her summons, Winter - with years more practice and refinement under her belt - lay her hand on the ground and within a couple of seconds summoned forth a pale glowing Beowolf Alpha to her aid. A few bandits, the newer ones to Raven and her family's cause, backed away in fear at the ghostly Grimm. Winter wasn't planning on giving them any leeway though and instead ordered the summoned monster, along with a couple of lesser ones, to attack and occupy the grunts whilst she dealt with their leader.

"Last chance Schnee. Fighting me will end in you losing, I'm giving you a chance here."

"A chance to what? Be your prisoner? Your slave? Forgive me, but I'll take my own chances."

The bandit leader tutted at her. "Foolish girl."

Both women dashed forwards instantaneously, the pristine silver saber blades clashing with the crimson red Ōdachi one with such force that sparks flew far from the impact. Each time one of the two pulled back and took a swing, the other perfectly countered with one or both of their blade depending on who was defending, with Raven even occasionally bringing her scabbard up to block.

Neither woman was giving way though - each was about evenly matched in terms of skill and possessed no natural ranged options to keep the other at bay. The only advantage one held over the other was Raven's Ōdachi extended out longer than either of Winter's two silver sabers.

But eventually, Winter grew tired of the close quarters combat. As blades clashed once more she let the hand holding her shorter saber fall back and in doing so summoned a flock of ghostly white birds to fly at Raven. Not knowing the purpose of the creatures other than seemingly a form of distraction, the bandit leader tried pressing on through the ghostly onslaught. All attempts at doing so, however, were met with great resistance. Each individual bird pushed back against the crimson coloured woman, forcing her arms up to protect her face and, in turn, dropping her guard and leaving her open for a counterattack.

Winter took that opportunity. Who knew when she would get another one?

Jumping back and planting her feet on the glyph she created, crouched down and coiled like a spring, the Specialist delayed herself slightly - even with the mindset she was in of 'defeat Raven Branwen, even if it means killing her' - to seek the perfect moment to strike.

One of her summons managed to hit the red and black leader square in the chest and caused her to stumble. With widening blue eyes, Winter forced as much Aura as she dared through her feet so that she could fly at her opponent with blistering speed, the single dash across the space rivalling Ruby's speed, as she swung her saber at Raven.

No one could realistically block an attack of that speed, and if they could, there's no way they'd hold the advantage with the amount of force behind it.

What Winter learnt in the moments after her strike connected was that she was no longer dealing with things that could be quantified by any 'realistic' measures anymore. She was dealing with things that belonged in the realms of myth, of fairy tale and magic. Right now, she was dealing with a Maiden. And said Maiden was well and truly pissed off.

"I gave you chances," Raven seethed, her hand wrapping around the blade, crimson Aura flowing around her digits to the hand wouldn't be sliced open or off, "more than I had given any other in a long time, because I thought you with your knowledge of what the real world was like could change. But I was wrong."

With each passing word, Raven went from kneeling to standing, her hand never letting go of the blade that tried to strike her down, her eyes never breaking from Winter's, her crimson irises accompanied by a brilliant and raging flame.

"I see now that you don't want to change, never _can_ change. You try separating yourself from the Schnee name, but you're stuck there like a prim and proper stick in the mud." Raven opened her other palm, letting gusts of wind blow about the place. The fair haired Atlas girl barely managed to keep her eyes open, relinquishing her grip on her saber to protect her face from the sudden storm.

"It's _my_ turn to put you in your place."

Without allowing her a pause to collect her thoughts, the Spring Maiden thrust her hand forward, gathering the air circling around them and slamming it into Winter's chest in a concentrated gust, knocking her breath out of her and sending her flying across the campsite, tumbling in the dirt a few times before coming to a stop by the fence.

Coughing and spluttering, the Specialist forced herself back onto her feet, her trademark neat bun completely out of order as her mid-back length hair flew about in the wind.

' _Why must I constantly be reminded of why I keep this mop up?_ ' she groaned to herself, only to have the sight of Raven now floating in the air in front of her take precedence in her mind.

"No more warnings," she told her. "No more chances. The weak die, the strong survive; those are the rules." Winter barely had time to roll out of the way as her aggressor dashed from her place in the sky directly at her, the Maiden smashing into one of the pillars for the encampment. "So just die."

Throwing herself towards Winter once more, the burning eyed woman missed colliding into her target by a hair's' breadth as she jumped out of the way once more. Each missed strike from the dark haired one - and they were plentiful - gave Winter more chances to close in on her own weapon that had been discarded on the ground after Raven's Maiden powers first reared their heads in the fight.

"Your sword will serve no purpose," Raven informed the Specialist as her hands wrapped around the grip of her saber once more, the familiarity of the handle easing her mind against the insanity of what was transpiring in front of her. "I am a Maiden, a woman with powers beyond anything you can fight against." To illustrate her point, she hurled fireballs at Winter, one of which the trained soldier barely managed to avoid.

One did manage to hit its mark though, smashing into her left leg and exploding with enough force to burn away the fabric at the impact zone, toppling her and breaking her concentration, bringing her summons down with her. The bandits - at least, the ones who managed to outlast the glowing white beasts - cheered for their victory and rushed to deliver the finishing blow to Winter. Everyone, with the exception of Winter herself, was knocked back by a gust of wind formed by Raven. "No! She is _mine_ to kill, not yours. " Despite being a fearsome group of hunters and pillagers, Winter couldn't help but smirk a little at seeing them cower like scolded puppies when Raven barked orders at them.

' _Huh. Weiss' blonde friend's sense of humour seems to have rubbed off on me somewhat._ '

"I could do so much to you," the ravenette threatened as she crept forward. "I could call down lightning from the sky to crash into you a hundred times a second and fry your insides with the heat." Raven cast a couple of ice blasts to Winter's feet, freezing them in place so that the Specialist couldn't move. "I could continue doing that, freezing your body piece by piece until there is nothing but a pretty little block of ice in my way. Aura is good, and yours exceptionally, but even Aura can't save you from something like that." Now right in front of her, Raven kneeled down and lifted her chin with her left hand, keeping the right one free in case she needed to pull out her blade. "I could open the ground and have you crushed beneath the surface, or stick you in the centre of your own personal hurricane until you suffocate to death. Or," she grabbed the handle of her sword and pulled it out slightly, revealing the blood red blade Winter had been battling against for the past ten minutes, "I could run you through and have this over in a matter of moments. What will it be, Schnee?"

"Why?"

Raven had to admit, she wasn't expecting a question from the defeated Atlas warrior. "'Why' what?"

"Why are you giving me a choice on how I wish to die? Surely it would be easier to kill me without the need for my input?" Fire burned in Raven's eyes once more as she glared harder into the pools of blue that tried defying her.

"You need to remember that you have lost, Winter. I hold all the cards in this scenario. Trying to talk your way out of this isn't going to work, and will ultimately only delay the inevitable."

"Then just kill me and get it over with." Winter was playing a dangerous game here, and she knew it. Bargaining with anyone's life is risky, but bargaining with her own added a whole new facet of danger to the mix. But seeing the feared Raven Branwen hesitate, even for the briefest of moments, told her that she had the upper hand, despite the bandit leader protesting otherwise. "I will die knowing that I did something good, something right."

"You will die fighting a battle you could not win, against an opponent you have no chance of beating."

"That may be the case, but at least I would have given it a try. Unlike you and Salem." The sound of a sword unsheathing cut through the tension, a red tip pointed right between Winter's eyes.

"You will not speak of that again. Salem is unstoppable, and any battle is pointless."

"If what you claim is true, that you are the strongest being on Remnant right now, then so was this battle. And yet I fought. I chose not to back down, even if the odds were stacked against me. I even recall getting a couple of hits on you." Raven sneered at that, she didn't particularly want to be reminded of that. "If one person can get a couple of hits on Salem, then another gets another couple, eventually that's going to stack up and-"

"You don't GET IT!" she cried, sweeping her arms out to make a grand statement and, inadvertently, sent out a wave of flames that crippled Winter's already wavering Aura further whilst also melted the mystical ice at her feet. "Salem isn't someone you can beat by sheer willpower. She is a being that is relentless in her goal, unyielding in her punishments and not remotely swayed by the feelings of others. She'd only make herself known to you if she knew the battle was already over, like rubbing salt into a wound. She wants the Relics, and nothing more. With them, Remnant might as well already be dead."

"So, you are staying ahead of the curve, are you?" the downed, yet no longer trapped, Specialist offered. "You're always moving on the off chance that the world _does_ end, and that having a moving home means less likelihood of her finding you."

"That method of living served my father well, and it has done me good too."

"Justify it all you want Raven, that's not the reason. Is it?" Raven flinched once again. Without even saying or doing any more against Winter, she spun around and made a beeline straight to her tent. Unburdened by restraints, Winter rose to her feet and followed. A few bandits took up arms and tried to halt her, but all it took was the summoning of a Goliath to stop them in their tracks and opt instead to try and rebuild part of their home that had been broken in the fight.

Winter observed the inside of Raven's tent as she stepped inside. It was definitely spacious, given that she was the leader of the tribe, with a few things on tables around the outside. Her bed was situated to one of the side walls, and there was a large low table with eight cushions on the floor as seating.

Winter also noted the tea set on the table, a stark white and blue set of a pot, four cups and four saucers compared to the darker tones of everything else inside. She couldn't help but notice the chipping on one of the cups as well.

"Why do you follow me?" the Maiden growled. "You have the option to go. Now go."

"What happened to killing me, or sending me back to 'Daddy dearest'?"

"If you wish to tempt fate, then I can still fulfil that request," she threatened. But Winter ignored it, for it was a threat that no longer contained any harshness of weight behind it. It was empty, and all because the person threatening her had come down hard off her emotional high.

"I see the conflict in you. I saw it in my sister when we were both much younger. That want to do one thing, but the need to do another." Raven stayed still, back to the snowy coloured woman behind her. "What is it Raven?" Again, the Maiden said nothing. Did nothing. Until eventually, she moved towards a drawer on one of the smaller tables in her tent and pulled out a brown bag.

"I told you how my Semblance works, yes?" Winter confirmed that she had, but Raven recapped. "I bond with someone, then I can open a portal to them, or anywhere within about 50m of them - that's useful for when I want to observe people from afar, rather than materialising right in front of them. I can also bond to things, items. But only if I have a strong connection with that item, like say it was something that belonged to someone I was, or am, bonded with." The Specialist nodded, seeing the logic behind that. "I don't do it a lot, because it's harder to do. In fact, I've only done it three times, and twice was to see if I could. This," she held the bag slightly higher for emphasis, "is the only inanimate object I have that I've still bonded with."

For a formidable opponent, seeing the bandit leader acting so defeated and treating the bag and its contents so delicately was slightly off putting for Winter. After untying the string around the top, black gloved hands reached in and took a hold of one of the items inside. Winter couldn't quite believe what it was she was being shown.

"Is that… a petal?"

Sure enough, in the bag were countless flower petals. Each one practically shone with a brilliant white glow that seemed to be emitting from their centre, and even hidden in this brown, sack-like bag in Raven's tent having not seen the light of day for countless days, they appeared as if they had been plucked off a flower that had just bloomed not seconds ago.

"Back at Beacon, I was in a team with my brother and two others. One was Yang and Ruby's dad, Taiyang, and the other was Ruby's mom and our leader. Her name was Summer Rose, and much like her daughter she would shed petals whenever she went places. She wasn't fast like her daughter, but with her cloak, eyes and hair colour you'd be hard pressed to tell them apart. It seemed like whenever she went anywhere when she was feeling either really happy or really down with her cloak on and her hood up, she'd start shedding these white petals.

"They never lasted, only sticking around for a minute or two at most before disappearing into nothingness. Summer was, and I'd say still is to this day, my best friend. Her death shook me like no other had before nor has since. It's why I am so thankful for Ozpin gifting me these."

"Ozpin gave you… Summer's petals?" Winter found the pair of them moving to the cushions by the table, letting Raven sit first before taking a pew next to her. "That seems like a very… confusing present to gift someone."

"It wasn't a present," she corrected, a small smile gracing her face as she said that, "it was a personal request of mine." Uncertain if she should do anything, lest angering the now placid ravenette again, the Schnee nodded in understanding and let Raven continue on her own terms. "Ozpin has done very few things of good since I've known of him, and learning about his curse and abilities opened up a whole new realm of things that he could have done to mess us all up. When we were younger, Team STRQ were a tight knit team and did back then what I fear your sister is becoming now - Ozpin's personal lap dogs. Run here, go there, fight that, and so on and so on.

"But we never said no. And over the years we did that, not saying no eventually lead to us being owed a favour from Ozpin. I didn't initially have one, but when I saw Summer after she had called in her favour and her petals cascading from her, I knew at once what I wanted. I asked him if he could preserve some of Summer's petals, to keep them safe and to stop them from decaying."

"And that's what these are. Your teammate's petals imbued with Ozpin's magic to keep them forever young."

"When I formed a bond with Summer, these petals were never part of her, so I never could find her if she shed enough of these in a small space. They'd scramble her in my mind, and I'm still not sure why. So I bonded with the petals separately. Found a memory and attached it to the petals so that I could create a portal to them as I do with people."

"Was Summer involved, per chance?"

The bandit nodded. "By the time our final term in our second year had rolled around, Ozpin was sending us places a lot. We'd grown as a team, but more importantly as people. Summer came out of her shell by that time, and even started dating someone in another team - Fenri or something from Team CHFN {Chiffon}. The pair were good for one another, until Fenri broke it off in our third year."

"I'm... sorry to hear that."

"She got over it; first boyfriend, first heartbreak, everyone's got to have it." Winter's eyes darted to one side, the statement from Raven hitting home a little. "Tai and Qrow took Fenri aside and had a bit of a chat, leaving me to speak with her. I don't remember the topic of conversation, but all I remember was that by the end of it all, she was so happy that she was shedding these petals like it was going out of fashion, and I was just as happy. So I collected all the petals I could and gave them to Ozpin, and he used his magic to make these last forever."

"And so, the bond…"

"Came from the memory Summer and I made after she and Fenri broke up, us trying to fight off the sadness together. I've bonded to each of these petals with that memory, and as such I can portal to each and every one of them."

"Is that how you managed to appear outside the White Fang Headquarters without anyone else being there?"

"You catch on fast, Schnee."

"We try and pride ourselves on that fact." The witty response even earned a smile from Raven, however brief that might have been. Her expression levelled out after a few seconds though, swapping even to a sadder one.

"I will not hold you here any longer," she muttered. "You came here to try and stop me, but I was going to keep you here. I can send you back to your sister and her friends, and we can hopefully leave this here. You need not speak of it anymore."

As the bandit leader stood to get her Ōdachi and let Winter go, her arm was grabbed and held by the very same person.

"We'd work well together," she insisted, "much better than we do alone. We both have demons we wish to leave behind, so why not do so with someone like minded watching our back? Similarly, our fighting styles both complement each other's, so I believe it would be mutually beneficial to have the other around."

"I can't do that to you. I left my own friends and family behind having been as thick as thieves with them and inseparable from each one for six years, we've known each other for less than four days."

"But I am not willing to let you face this alone."

"You're delusional! A bandit tribe is not the sort of place for a Schnee," she reminded her, "I will not let you to do this to yourself."

"If it means we both grow as people, then it is a sacrifice I'm willing to make." Raven remained silent, thinking it over in her head. That unnerved Winter slightly; Raven wasn't one for letting thoughts go unspoken for such lengthy periods of time.

After much silence, Raven nodded. "We should get you back to the house in Haven. If you wish to do this, you will need your belongings." The Specialist smiled at the cordial nature of the bandit, assuming the time she took to answer was to collect her thoughts in her mind and come to the conclusion she did.

But you know what they say about assuming…

Raven opened a portal that lead the pair back to the room they left from, Winter stepping out first and Raven following not too far behind.

"I shall be a few minutes gathering my belongings and informing my sister of my plans. I hope it won't be too much trouble for you to-" before she could finish her thought process, she found her feet magically frozen to the floorboards. "Raven, what is the meaning of this?"

"I'm sorry Winter, but I do not want you to throw away your life for the sake of it."

"That is preposterous, I do this of my own choice!"

"And I, this. You are young, you already have experience, and you have your sister and her friends. You can still fight for others. I have chosen a path that should never be followed; one of selfishness and far too many wrongs to note. I am not wanting to bring you down with me."

"We are amicable, are we not? Perhaps we can come to an arrangement?" The bandit turned back to her portal.

"Goodbye, Winter." She was going to step through, but the slight movement from the immobilised older sibling prompted a swift turn and a slice through the air, cutting the tracking device Winter had thrown at her in two. "You need to be far sneakier than that to try and pull something like that on me." With her parting words spoken, Raven made her way into the tear in space and closed it behind her.

The ice around Winter's feet crumbled away now that Raven had gone. The Specialist stumbled a little - she wasn't being looked upon by anyone, so little stumbles were allowed every once in a while - and gazed at the remote for her tracking device, now two small and insignificant piles of wires and sparks.

The device '0046' showed ' **SIGNAL LOST** ', which irked the military woman. That was, until she swiped across to see '0045', ' **TRACKING...** ', and a small smile graced her features.

* * *

 _Chapter Beta - **DioRezi**_

* * *

Okay, I want to begin my three part apology by saying you are all wonderful people...

In all seriousness, sorry this is so late coming to you. But life is a thing, and **DioRezi** needed to heed its call. As did I, and this wasn't a priority. Forgive for that, but that's the way the world works :(

That said, **Kenjutsu** will be taking a bit of a break after this chapter. I feel like inspiration is lacking for this story, and whilst there is something in the pipelines for it, it's not flowing quite like I'd want to. So I'll leave it for a little while, and get back to it after I've done a couple of other things to tide my mind over.

But hey, nearly 8,000 word chapter to see you through, right? That counts for something? ... right?

As always, feedback - good or bad - is most appreciated

 **DioRezi: What do you think of our story so far? I'm interested in everyone's opinions on it, guests included**


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